The Mating Dance

by Xavier2163

AU Edward Cullen and his adoptive family moved to Forks to start a new life, but Edward’s life suddenly changes when he’s drawn into Bella Swan’s strange and dangerous world. Vampires mate for life, but what happens when that mate is human? OOC Lemons ExB

3. My New Best Friend

Disclaimer: Written under the derivative fan works act. All rights reserved to the original creator, Stephanie Meyer.

Title: The Mating Dance

Rating: M for sexual situations, lemons, and hot, steamy, angsty vampire lovin', underage drinking, smoking, drug use and overall bad behavior.

Premise: Alternate Universe. Edward Cullen and his adoptive family have moved to Forks to start a new life, but Edward's life suddenly changes when he's drawn into Bella Swan's strange and dangerous world. Vampires mate for life, but what happens when that mate is human?

Alternate Universe: Canon pairings eventually, pretty much OOC, ExB of course.

POV: APOV (Alice), Alice's turn, but Edward will continue the story in the next chapter. Bella may have a say later on as well.

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Author Notes:

Please note that this story is rated M for a reason, if you'd prefer not to deal with mature themes, please do not read this story.

Warning: This Chapter contains graphic descriptions of emotionally traumatic events in the lives of the characters. If you would prefer not to be exposed to this, don't read the story, or skip down to the row of asterisks after they go to the bar.

Photos have been posted in my profile. I'll add some more as they become relevant to the chapters.

Notes on specific changes relevant to this Alternate Universe are available at the end of this chapter.

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Chapter 3 My new best friend

APOV (Alice)

My brother, Edward Cullen was an idiot. I'd warned him that this was going to happen, and he still went ahead and made all the selfish mistakes that were going to screw up everybody's lives. I loved Katy as a friend, but I knew from the minute that we met her that it wasn't meant to be when Edward fell for her. He had fallen for her so hard, and I knew they were both going to be hurt when it ended, but nobody ever wants to believe the fortune teller when they have bad news.

Bella Swan had started at Forks high school yesterday, and I could feel that she was the girl I had seen in Edward's future, but he'd had to go and complicate everything by falling in love with Katy when we first moved to Forks. I knew there was going to be a lot of pain and hurt feelings before everything was all said and done, but I still hadn't seen a clear resolution to all of this yet, and we still had a long road ahead of us.

I knew Bella Swan was going to be my best friend. I felt in my heart that someday we'd be sisters, and I wasn't going to wait around for Edward to get his shit together before I started to make friends with her.

Everything had been going so great tonight at the drive-in. Edward had gone over and met Jasper, and I was grateful for him doing that. Bella and Jasper had come to the drive-in to get to know people, and we'd partied some with them. I was talking to Bella, getting to know her. I liked her, but I was waiting for Jasper to make a move, when Edward went and screwed things up again. At least I'd been able to invite her to lunch before everything blew up.

I guess Katy had called him, and he left to go over to her house. Bella had made an excuse and wanted to leave. She was pissed off about something, and had started to argue with Jasper. She wanted to leave, and I think she really wanted to follow Edward, but jasper wanted to stay so she wouldn't and was trying to reason with her to calm her down. Bella had stormed off saying she'd walk, and Jasper had apologized, and left to follow her in their car. I don't think anybody else figured out what was going on, but I knew.

The night was pretty much over by then. The drive-in would be closing soon anyhow, and I still hadn't had a chance to talk to Jasper alone. Nobody had figured out what had upset Bella, but I knew she was upset that Edward had gone to visit Katy. She had it bad for Edward, and it was tearing her up inside to see him with Katy. I told everyone good night, and got in the Volvo and drove home.

Carlisle was still up, watching TV when I came in. He'd been working long hours this last year, getting his clinic established. He'd adjusted his schedule so he'd be available to his customers in the afternoon and evenings. It made it convenient for his clients so they didn't have to take time off work to make appointments, but it cut into our family time together because he was at the clinic when we came home from school, and we rarely had family dinners together anymore. We ate out more often than we ate at home, but it was a part of trying to get a new business going.

"Hi dad, how was the clinic today?" I asked as I walked in from the garage.

Carlisle got up and gave me a hug. "It was a good day. I had a couple of new clients."

"That's good. So, have you eaten? I can fix you something if you're hungry."

"No, Alice, I'm good. I ate at the coffee shop on my way home. So, how was the first day of school?"

"It was ok. About normal as first days go. There were two new kids starting school today. They're in the same grade as Edward and me. They came by the drive-in to hang out tonight, and they seem really nice."

"I heard there were some new kids starting school today, but I haven't heard about any new families moving into town. Who are their parents, are they living in town too?"

"No, Bella Swan and Jasper Whitlock are foster kids. They're living with the family of one of the guy's on the Forks police department."

"That was nice of him to take them in. It takes a lot of patience to live with teenagers," Carlisle said with a smile, to let me know he was kidding.

"Yes, I'm sure it takes the patience of Job to put up with a couple of teenagers," I deadpanned.

"Speaking of which, where is your brother?" Carlisle asked. "I need his help with one of my new clients."

It irked Carlisle that he had to turn to Edward for help to treat some of his patients. Washington was one of fifteen States that had decriminalized medical marijuana, but its law was different from California. He hated the fact that he had to buy street drugs to treat a patient's condition, because Washington didn't have a registry system or allow dispensary clinics like California.

Carlisle had been able to provide medical marijuana to his patients that were registered with the state, before we had moved, and could legally own and sell medical marijuana to his patients if they had a legitimate need for it. In Washington, the patient could legally posses a sixty day supply, and could cultivate up to 15 plants, but most of the patients that needed it the most didn't have the time or ability to grow medical grade marijuana.

Edward had a way with people, and he was good at making friends and knowing who to trust and who to keep his mouth shut around. He was always well connected, and could get the medical grade marijuana that Carlisle needed for his patient.

Carlisle was pretty cool about this kind of thing as far as parents went and had a pretty laid back attitude. He had done his research, and provided medical marijuana to his patients. He knew that pot was about like beer or liquor, as far as recreational drugs went. His basic rule was don't get caught, and don't let it interfere with the rest of your life. Beyond that we were pretty much free to enjoy whatever we wanted to. Of course, if we did get caught, then we were breaking the law and would have to pay the consequences. It was up to us not to be stupid enough to get caught.

Carlisle had asked me where Edward was. Hmm, let me see… Oh, yeah dad, he snuck into his girlfriend's bedroom while her dad's out of town so they could fuck like rabbits… no, maybe not. "I think he's out with Katy. He should be home in a while." Unless he fell asleep in her bed when he was done fucking her.

"Well, he better get home soon. This is a school night, and you both have a curfew again."

"Umm, I'm home, dad."

"I know, Alice, Edward can try my patience at times, but I love you both."

"I love you too, dad. I'm gonna head upstairs and read before I go to bed. See you in the morning," I said as I headed for the stairs. He assumed I'd meant a book, but I had other things to read.

"Ok, good night, Alice," Carlisle said as he sat back down and I went upstairs.

I went up to my room, but I was too keyed up to relax and read my novel for school right now. I hadn't let on to dad, but this hadn't been an ordinary first day of school. Today I had seen Jasper Whitlock for the first time, and I knew the second that I looked into his eyes that he was the man I'd seen in my future. He was the one I was waiting for, the one who would change my life, make me happy, and love me more than his own life. He was my soul mate, and now he was avoiding me, because Edward had screwed things up.

Of course I couldn't tell Edward that, it would just make things worse if he tried to fix it now. Events had to play out. I had to be patient, and I hated being patient. I had read the signs, and I knew what was coming. Jasper was going to avoid me until the issue with Bella was settled, and she was going to avoid Edward, if she could as long as Katy was in the picture. She didn't want to be the "other woman" and come between them, but we all knew there was some kind of connection between us.

I could see that Bella was joined to Edward, and I could feel my connection to Jasper. Katy was the odd woman out, and I felt sorry for her, but she was the only one with a chance to move on and live a normal life. I couldn't talk to Edward about this, but Bella and I were going to be friends anyhow, so my only option was to get to know Bella better and make her my friend now. If she was in the picture, it would force the issue between Edward and Katy, and the relationship issues would progress.

I changed into my pajamas, and sat down cross-legged on the floor to mediate. I controlled my breathing, letting it center me as I cleared my mind and let the worries of the day go. I reached for the cards absentmindedly, without thought and automatically shuffled and spread the cards in front of me. Random thought, images, snippets of conversation flowed through my awareness but I didn't try to understand it or analyze it, I let it flow as it carried me along. My awareness of the reality of my room, the house, Forks drifted away. Other realities replaced it and I let my consciousness experience the possible and the impossible, what would be, and what might be as I drifted away.

I had read about tarot card reading, and from the descriptions, that wasn't what I was doing. I'd read about how the cards were supposed to have certain meanings, and by casting patterns and studying the cards, you were supposed to be able to make predictions about the future or tell peoples fortunes by interpreting the cards, kind of like how some people analyzed the symbolism of dreams or read the future in the patterns of tea leaves. That wasn't what I did. Maybe the meanings of the cards had been associated with the predictions from people like me, to decide what the cards meant, but they were just a device, a prop that got my mind in tune to let me reach another awareness of another level of reality. I didn't 'read the cards', I just knew things sometimes when I came back to myself.

The cards were good for helping me to meditate and get a broad general sense of the future and what I needed to do, but I didn't always get a lot of detail. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The cards freaked out Edward and my dad enough. Let me at an Ouija board, and I could scare them shitless. Now that gave me good short term details, but as much as people said they wanted to know the future, people really just wanted you to tell them good news. Nobody wanted to hear the bad news, but this was the real world we were living in, not some fairy tale where people lived happily ever after.

Time had passed and it was later when I came back to the room where I was sitting on the floor. Edward was going to be late, and Carlisle would be angry, but I could stop that much from happening. I picked up my phone and speed dialed Katy's cell. The phone rang for a while, but I'd seen her answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Katy, Tell Edward to get his ass out of your bed and drag it home right now, or our dad is going to be pissed off at him for coming in so late on a school night."

"Ok, Alice, I'll let him know."

"Now go back to sleep, I'll see you in the morning, when we go for our run before school."

"Thank you, 'see you in the morning."

Well, that should get Edward home on time, and keep dad off his back. I wondered why he was going to be mad at Bella. I'd worry about that later, and I picked up the cards as my awareness drifted back out of the room.

Edward was tiptoeing down the hall again, carrying his boots, trying to sneak into his room. I waited until he had his hand on the doorknob.

"Edward," I knew he heard me, and I heard him sigh as he turned away from the door and came into my room. I spread the cards in front of me, and enough of my awareness was back in the room to carry on a conversation.

"Hey, Alice, any news from the other side, Is Elvis in there with you, or is he really just hiding out living a normal life somewhere?

"Carlisle needs your help with another new client. I don't see any problems; he has glaucoma, and isn't having luck with other medications, so Dr. Gerandy sent him to Carlisle." I shuffled the cards, cut the deck, and cut each half one handed again before I shuffled them back together.

"No problem, but I'll need to meet him first, before I vouch for him. I have my own ways of knowing who to trust."

"I know, just thought I'd give you the heads up." I cast another pattern in front of me as I danced at the edge of awareness of the room and Edward.

"Ok, well I'm going to shower and hit the sack." Edward said, anxious to leave the room.

"Edward, are you going to tell me about your night?" He wouldn't, but I had to ask.

"Alice, you know I don't kiss and tell."

"You were doing more than just kissing, but I don't need the details of your love life. I meant the rest of the night and what has you upset."

"I'm sorry Alice; I need to handle this in my own way"

"I know, I've seen it. Edward, please don't be too hard on her. She's been hurt, and she's only just finding her confidence again…"

"Alice, why do you always ask me to do things I don't want to do?"

"Because I'm your sister and I love you. You feel the connection. It's harder for her than it is for you. She feels it stronger than you do."

"Good night, Alice. I'll see you in the morning," and he walked out of the room and shut the door.

The seed was planted. I wondered how long it would take to grow, and what fruit it would bear. I yawned, and got up and went to bed.

*****

The next day at school, I could tell that Edward was angry with Bella. He glared at her during AP English, but he didn't approach her to confront her with whatever was bothering him. I was pretty sure that it was Jasper's presence that stopped him from talking to her. It wasn't that he was afraid of Jasper; he wanted to talk to her alone, and keep the conversation private. I knew he was waiting for AP chemistry in sixth period, after lunch. At least I'd have an opportunity to warn her during lunch so she'd be prepared for whatever it was that had him so upset with her.

I noticed that Edward seemed to be staring at her hand, and it dawned on me that the ring she'd been wearing was gone. Today she was wearing a necklace with a pendant that bore the same family crest design that she'd worn on her ring, yesterday. It seemed like a nice enough necklace, but he kept staring back at her hand, like he expected something to be wrong with it.

I was waiting for Bella as she walked out of the main school building toward the cafeteria with Jasper. I hooked my arm in hers and deftly turned her toward the parking lot before she could react. Her arm was hard and cold, and she was stronger than she looked, but I'd had a lot of practice moving people and redirecting their momentum, and she turned away from the cafeteria.

"Hi, Bella, I'm sure you remembered we were doing lunch today, my treat." She didn't, and was startled, but she kept moving as I steered her away toward the parking lot and fell into step next to her. "Don't worry, Jasper, I'll take good care of her. We'll be back in time for sixth period." I had a feeling we wouldn't, but she could call him later and let him know.

"Am I being kidnapped, Alice?" Bella asked, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on her lips.

"If you like, we need to talk, and the cafeteria has too many ears for my liking."

"Well, where are we going, I'm a picky eater? They might not have anything I like," Bella told me.

"You don't have to pretend to eat if you don't want to. I just want us to get to know each other better."

We were almost to the car, and I didn't know why I said that, but it had felt like the right thing to say. Something was rattling around in my subconscious, and I hadn't put all the pieces together yet, but it would come to me. It worked like that a lot. Something would surface and I'd make a cryptic remark I didn't understand. People would react to it, and more pieces would fall into place.

I felt Bella stiffen for a second, but she kept walking, and we were almost to the Volvo, when Bella turned and gave me an appraising look for a second, like she was wondering how much I knew about something.

Then she said, "well, if you're buying lunch, at least let me drive."

I nodded, "Ok, lead on," and we walked to the red Dodge Charger that she'd driven to school this morning.

I opened the passenger door got in the car. She got in started the car, and drove us to the exit of the school parking lot.

"Ok, Alice, where are we headed," she asked.

I pointed down the street, "Head south, to East E street," and she turned south onto Spartan Avenue.

We drove down to East E Street, and I pointed to the driveway of the bowling alley and we pulled into the parking lot. The bowling alley was closed now, and wouldn't open until 3:00, but I had to stop by today anyway.

"Pull around back to the employee entrance," and she drove us around to the back and parked by a door in the back of the building by a dumpster. There was a sign that said 'employee's only'. I got out of the car.

"C'mon, I need to make delivery, and we can stay for lunch."

Bella got out of the car and we walked to the door. I knocked, and Matt Groh opened the door, and invited us in. We walked into the kitchen, and Bella wrinkled her nose like she smelled something bad. Matt ran a pretty clean kitchen, and I wondered what bothered her about it. It looked like Matt was doing prep work for the evening crowd. Normally I'd deal with Matt here, but I kept walking until we got out into the bar, and Bella relaxed.

"So, Alice, the usual, right?" Matt said, eyeing Bella warily.

"Yeah, Matt, don't worry about Bella, she's cool," and I reached into my purse and took out four baggies of high grade pot and laid them on the bar.

"Thanks' Alice," Matt said, he laid a stack of twenty dollar bills on the counter and made the baggies disappear. I picked up the money and counted out the $200, and put it in my purse.

"Hey, Matt, you don't mind if we stay for lunch, do you?" I asked.

"No problem, Alice. What can I get you?" Matt said as he headed back to the kitchen.

"I'll have a cheese burger, and some onion rings if you have the fryer going. Bella, want anything?"

She reached into her purse and produced a flask and held it up, "Liquid diet," and grinned at me.

"Save it for later, lunch is on me," I told her. "Matt, get us a couple of shots of Patrón with that burger," I called into the kitchen.

"Sure, Alice, isn't it a little early in the day for you?" Matt called back, and I could tell he was busy in the kitchen.

"Long day, I can handle it. We're gonna go sit down."

We walked to the other side of the lounge and sat down at a semi-circular booth in the corner where we had a view of the kitchen but were far enough away to talk privately. It was meant for a larger group, but the slight distance seemed to make Bella more comfortable as we sat down opposite each other at the open ends of the built-in upholstered bench seat.

"It's not what you think, Bella. I'm not a drug dealer. Well, maybe I am in the strict sense of the word. Matt's mom is one of my dad's patients. She has cancer, and he's treating her for the pain. The pot helps with the nausea caused by the chemo. She's a qualifying patient for medical marijuana, and my dad is her designated primary caregiver. It's legal for her to possess up to 24 ounces, it's just not strictly legal for me to deliver it or accept their payment."

"No problem, either way. Hey, you didn't happen to save any for us, did you?" she asked.

"Sorry, I don't smoke during school. Carlisle, my dad is cool about it, but he says it's up to us, to not be stupid enough to get caught. Besides, Matt would freak out."

"Yeah, I see your point." She sighed, and reached for her purse. She took out a pack of Marlboro 100 gold, and flipped open the top of the hard pack and took out a cigarette. She held it between her lips as she offered the pack to me. I shook my head no, and she dropped the pack of cigarettes back in her purse and got out a lighter and lit the cigarette.

"You know those things will kill you," I said as I slid the ashtray across in front of her.

"I wish," she muttered, and chuckled like she thought it was funny.

"So how are you holding up with the Dahlke's," I asked as Bella smoked her cigarette

"They're ok, I've been through worse. I'll survive." She flicked the ashes into the ash try and took another drag on the cigarette.

"I'm not just being nosy, or curious, Bella. I was in foster care, before Carlisle and Elizabeth adopted me. I know about Rich Dahlke, and he's into a lot of illegal shit. He's not the type to volunteer as a foster parent, unless he's working some kind of scam. If you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."

We heard the swinging door from the kitchen and looked up, and Matt walked across the room with a tray. He set my burger and onion rings in front of me, and then set down shot glasses and a little bowl with cut lime wedges. He poured us two shots of Patrón, and turned to leave.

"Hey, Matt, leave the bottle," Bella said.

He looked at her, then over at me, and I nodded. He set it back down on the table, and walked back to the kitchen, muttering and shaking his head.

Bella reached over and picked up her shot and tossed it back. She didn't bother with the salt or lime, and seemed to savor it as she leaned back and closed her eyes. She took a big drag on the cigarette, and then blew out the smoke.

"This is comfortable," she sighed. "A girl could get used to this." She opened her eyes, and they were a noticeably lighter shade than the dark gold color they were when we came in.

"Yeah, Rich Dahlke is an ass," she continued, "but he isn't going to try anything. Not if he wants to keep breathing. Jasper said that Edward told him you'd had a bad experience in foster care, and you were looking out for us. Thank you, that means a lot to me."

I reached over and picked up my shot and tossed it back. Most people thought you needed the salt to cut down on the burn, and the sour taste of the lime wedge to balance and enhance the flavor, but Patrón was the good stuff, there was little burn and the flavor was meant to be savored. I set the shot glass down and closed my eyes as the warmth spread through me.

"I didn't have a happy childhood, Bella. Actually I've blocked most of it out, and don't want to remember it. Child Protective Services took me away from my parents when I was eight. I'd been in and out of the hospital so many times; the doctors got suspicious and ran tests. The guy my mom was married to was… touching me… The State got me out of that hell."

I was shaking as I thought about it. Bella scooted around on the bench until she was next to me, and held me to comfort me. She poured us each another shot. I picked it up and downed it.

"I remember parts of my life when I was little, only they're all the bad parts," Bella said as she crushed out her cigarette butt in the ashtray. "I was living in Phoenix, with my mom."

She was quiet for a minute with a faraway look in her eye as though she was remembering something painful. She reached down and fingered the shot glass, running her finger around the rim, and then went on.

"Mom got remarried, and I remember thinking, 'great, now we'll have someone to take care of us'." And she laughed a harsh mocking laugh. "I was twelve, a week before my thirteenth birthday, when he came in my room and got into my bed with me. I was asleep, and didn't know why he was there. I screamed when he lifted up my nightgown and put his hand inside my panties."

She tossed back the shot of Patrón, and then got another cigarette out of her purse and lit it. Her hand shook as she held the cigarette, and I thought she was going to lose it before she took another drag and continued.

"Mom didn't come into the room until he was done, and then she just took him back to her room to fuck him. She wouldn't look at me. I never heard her say anything to him about it. I never talked to her again, but the bastard kept coming back to my room."

"I was on a plane to Seattle the week after my birthday and nobody ever said anything about what was happening. I guess mom thought I'd be safer living with my dad, or maybe she just sent me away so she could have the son of a bitch to herself," she laughed the harsh mocking laugh again, but she looked like she was ready to cry.

I put my am around her, and pulled her head to my shoulder as the dry wracking sobs tore through her, but she didn't cry. I took the cigarette from her fingers, and set it in the ashtray, and held her and rubbed her shoulders. She was cold and hard, and her hand was ice cold when I took her cigarette so she wouldn't drop it, but I ignored it and just held her.

"Shh, Bella, It's alright now… it's over… You can let it go, dear… I understand, just let it out…" I murmured to her as I held her and let her vent.

"How can you understand! That bastard didn't just 'touch me'! He made me…"

"Shh, I understand. I know."

"How can you know what I went through?" She was calmer now, but sounded slightly mad as she reached for her cigarette.

I could feel that the anger wasn't directed at me, but her past and the things she'd had to experience. I felt compelled to share with her, and told her more about myself.

"It happened to me too, I know. I was in and out of different foster homes after the State took me away from my parents. I'm sure some of the people really cared about me, but I was too messed up at first to notice. I was ten when I thought I'd finally found a home. Cindy and Jack were really great, and talked about adopting me."

"Their son Derek didn't like the idea. He was fifteen, and was supposed to walk me home from school. He said we were going to take a shortcut, but we went to the dugout at the baseball field. His friends were waiting for us. There were three of them."

I was shaking again, as I relived the memory. It was painful, but I went on.

"He held his hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream as they joked and took off my pants. Then he held my arms over my head as they took turns."

Bella held me as I shook, and the tears ran down my cheeks. I hadn't realized I was crying until I felt the tears drip off my cheek onto my hand.

"One of the janitors at the school saw them and called the police. I never saw Cindy and Jack again."

I hadn't even noticed Bella pour, but she put another shot in my hand, and I downed it. I had a feeling we weren't going to make it back to school today.

"Carlisle and Elizabeth took me in soon after I got out of the hospital. Elizabeth would sit up with me at night, when I'd wake up screaming. She got me signed up for self-defense classes for therapy, because I didn't want to be a victim anymore. The whole family helped me to heal, and Carlisle and Elizabeth adopted me. Elizabeth died of cancer, almost two years ago, but we were a family by then. Now it's just me and Carlisle and Edward."

I saw Bella pour herself another shot and toss it back, but it didn't seem to be having any effect on her that I could see, except her eyes seemed lighter. She took a final drag off the butt between her fingers, and crushed it out in the ashtray. I'd had three shots now, and I was feeling the effect, but it helped with the pain. I was going to have to take a rain check on Chemistry and US History, but we needed this time together.

"You were lucky, Alice. Lucky to find a family to love you and take care of you, I didn't get lucky, my mom sent me to live with my dad. I hadn't seen my dad since I was five and that was at a court hearing, because my mom was suing him for back child support. I got off the plane in Seattle, and I could smell the liquor on his breath as he glared at me and dragged me out to his car. He got mean when he was drinking, and he drank a lot."

"He was pissed off because his girlfriend left him when I came to live with him. He found plenty of other things to be pissed off about after that. He never tried to get into my pants, but I was his own personal punching bag for the next two years. I got a black eye for moving in with him and a broken arm for my fourteenth birthday. The doctors at the emergency room got to know me, I was there so much. Dad told them I was clumsy and fell down a lot. That happens when you keep running into a fist."

"When I was fifteen, he bought me a dress, and said we were going to a party. I thought things were going to change, but he got me a drink when we got there, and went into another room to go talk to some guy. I tripped and spilled the drink, because I wasn't used to heels then. I went to go look for a towel to clean it up, and opened a door in the hallway, looking for the bathroom."

She stopped again, and got out another cigarette and lit it. She didn't seem so torn up now, but more angry and her hands shook as she lit her cigarette and blew out the smoke. It seemed to calm her, and then she went on.

"It wasn't the bathroom, it was a bedroom, and there was a naked girl passed out on the bed, drugged unconscious. Some guy was raping her, and another guy was videotaping them. That's when I realized that the drink I'd spilled was probably drugged too, and my turn was next. I heard my dad yelling for me from the other room, but I ran the other way down the hall, and climbed out a window, I ran like hell and never looked back. I was surprised I escaped. I got away, but from then on, I was on my own with nowhere to go."

"Why didn't you go to the police?" I asked. She flicked her ashes in the ashtray and took another drag off the cigarette before she answered but I could see her eyes darkening as the hurt and anger flashed across her face.

"They were the police. My dad was a cop, and even if those other low life scum weren't, my dad was protecting them and not me. The other cops wouldn't have listened to me; they would have sent me back to him. The cops weren't going to believe his troublemaker daughter, not after all the bullshit he'd been feeding them for two years about all the trouble I caused."

"Oh…" I didn't know what to say to that. It was bad enough being betrayed by the people that were supposed to take care of you, but what could you do when you were out of options and had no where to turn? I shivered just thinking about it.

She poured another shot and tossed it back as she leaned back against the booth and closed her eyes again. Her eyes were lighter when she opened them and leaned forward to flick her ashes in the ashtray and took another drag before she went on, talking quietly.

"Things were really bad for a while. I'd missed so much school being in and out of the hospital, and my dad keeping me home so people wouldn't see the bruises, I didn't know anyone or have any friends to turn to. I couldn't go home and I couldn't go to the police. I knew what happened to runaway girls on their own, and what they had to do to survive, but I wasn't going to start turning tricks, or I might as well have stayed at that house and let them rape me again. I was homeless, living on the streets, sleeping in alleys, eating out of dumpsters when I could find scraps from restaurants."

"I had to steal some clothes from a goodwill donation trailer to replace the rags of my dress. I shoplifted some shoes because I'd kicked off the high heels I was wearing when I ran away to escape, but I couldn't live on the street in my bare feet. I almost got caught stealing the shoes, and I knew they'd send me back to my dad if I was arrested, so I didn't try to steal again. I'd been on my own for months and I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a shower or a bath. The soles of my shoes were almost worn through, the weather was starting to turn colder, and I didn't know how I'd survive the winter on my own. I was going through dumpsters behind some of the downtown nightclubs, looking for scraps, or empty liquor bottles with some left in the bottom I could trade to some of the wino's, when Rose found me."

Bella leaned forward and crushed out her cigarette butt in the ashtray, and sat back. She seemed better now after getting her story out, and was calmer as she continued.

"Rose worked at one of the Clubs, but they catered to a special exclusive clientele. She took me back to the Club with her, and introduced me to Esme. Esme ran the Club, and was the manager. At first, I was scared because I thought they wanted me to be a hooker and turn tricks for the clients at their Club, but it wasn't like that. They took me in, and fed me and got me cleaned up. Rose offered me a way to earn my keep without having to spread my legs, so I started working for her. For the first time in my life since I was twelve, I had a place where I belonged and people cared about me and took care of me."

"If you were so happy with Esme and Rose, how did you end up in foster care in Forks?" I asked, wondering why she'd had to leave when she was finally happy. Edward had said she had been adopted, but she hadn't said anything about that.

"There was an accident at the Club with one of the clients. I was hurt and had to go away for a while. When I was better, Esme explained to me I needed training, but I'm really not supposed to talk about it. They got me setup to come to Forks to finish school."

"So are you going back to them when you graduate?" I asked her. "Edward said that you told him that you'd been adopted."

She seemed uncomfortable discussing this now, and I knew I shouldn't push for details, she'd tell me when she was ready to.

"I was invited to join the family that Rose and Esme were a part of, but it's not an official legal adoption like when Carlisle adopted you and Edward."

Bella reached into her purse, and took out a cell phone, and checked the time. Lunch was over now, and we were very late for sixth period, but I was in no condition to go back to school anyhow.

"C'mon, Alice, lets get out of here, we're not going back to school now. Let's go have some fun and forget about our miserable lives for a while. Do you need to call anyone?"

"Yeah, let me make a call." I took out my cell phone and dialed Carlisle. It rang a couple of times, and then he picked up.

"Hello, Alice, is something wrong?" Carlisle asked when he answered the phone.

"No, dad, I'm ok. Um, dad, I'm not going back to school for sixth and seventh period today. I'm with Bella Swan, and we've been reminiscing about our childhoods and how we grew up. Can you call me in to the school?"

"Ok, Alice. Are you sure you're alright? I can come get you if you need to talk."

"No, I'm ok, Bella needed someone to talk too, we have a lot in common, but we'll be ok."

"Alright, Alice, if you can handle it, I'll trust you. Be home by curfew, ok? Do what you think is best, I love you Alice."

"Thanks' dad, I love you too," and I ended the call.

"One more for the road?" Bella asked, holding the bottle of Patrón over my shot glass.

"Hell yes, hit me, then let's get the hell out of here."

"Sounds good to me." She poured me a shot and I tossed it back.

"Hell, just bring the bottle with you. It's going on my tab anyhow," I said as we got up to leave. "So where do you want to go…"

*****

I woke up the next morning, but I wished I hadn't. I managed to stagger down the hall, and knelt in front of the toilet as I threw up, and I felt better. I got up and washed my face and rinsed out my mouth. I could smell coffee downstairs.

I walked into the kitchen, and Edward handed me a bottle of Tylenol and a cup of black coffee. I took three and washed them down with the coffee, and sat at the table holding my head in my hands as I leaned my elbows on the table.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Edward asked. "You'll feel better if you eat something."

I groaned at the thought of food, and my stomach did flip flops, but I nodded my head yes.

"That must have been some girl's night out, yesterday afternoon and last night," Edward said as he scrambled eggs. I could smell toast in the toaster, and it didn't make me feel quite so queasy.

"Dad was pretty pissed off when Bella Swan showed up on our doorstep last night with you passed out drunk, holding you up with your arm over her shoulder. I thought for sure he was going to ground you over this, but Bella went into his study with him and they talked while I carried you upstairs and put you to bed." He set a plate of dry toast in front of me, and started the eggs.

I ate a piece of toast, and sipped the coffee, and my stomach started to feel a little better. My head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton, and my headache throbbed and pounded, but the Tylenol was starting to take off the edge.

"One thing I can say about Bella, the girl can hold her liquor." I said between bites of toast and sips of the coffee. "She had more to drink than me. She got a little tipsy at one point, I think, but she was never drunk. Drove like a bat out of hell, and the car never wavered, like we were driving down rails on the highway."

"Are you going to school today?" Edward asked as he came over to the table and served some scrambled eggs onto my plate and set a fork on the table next to it.

"I'll give it a try if I can keep this down," I said, and ate a forkful of scrambled eggs. My stomach flip-flopped a little, but it didn't feel like it was coming back up so I ate some more.

"So, where did you go," Edward asked as he sat down with his breakfast.

"Port Angeles to start with. I showed Bella White Crane Martial Arts, but I called in and told them I wasn't going to make it to my class last night. We went shopping at some boutiques, and Bella took me to her favorite book store. I was pretty gone by then, but I think we went to Seattle. I remember loud music, and dancing. We got another bottle somewhere, and then I was waking up here."

"Sounds like a hell of a party. You should be more careful, Alice. You don't know that much about Bella, you could have gotten into trouble, or gotten hurt…"

"I know a lot more about Bella than you do, Edward. I know you're still mad at her, but you should cut her some slack. I'm not going to betray her trust, but she's been through a lot more in her life than I have. She needs our help, and I'm sure you two could be friends if you gave her a chance."

"I'll try and talk to her, if you let her stay in school today. I won't make any promises; she has a lot to answer for."

"Just try, please? She's my friend, and I don't want this to be any harder than it has to be."

We finished breakfast in silence, and then I went up to go get ready for school. The way my head was pounding, I was pretty sure it was just going to be for appearance sake, like I'd really be able retain anything today, after last night. I went upstairs and showered and brushed my teeth, and then went to my room to get dressed while Edward cleaned up the kitchen.

Edward really was a good brother. He'd let me sleep in when he got up at four to go to Katy's for his morning run, and then he'd come back to fix me breakfast. Most mornings, I went with Edward and Katy for their morning run, as part of my conditioning routine for my martial arts training. Normally we ran about four miles each morning, and it helped with my stamina, flexibility and conditioning so I was in shape for my training sessions at White Crane Martial Arts.

I met him downstairs, and we drove to Katy's to pick her up for school. Katy smiled at me as I slouched down in the back seat and hid behind my sunglasses, and asked me how my head was. I just groaned and mumbled a response, and they laughed as we drove to school. I was starting to feel better, but the overcast misty morning still seemed too bright, and all the sounds were too loud and seemed grate at my nerves, but I played my part and pretended to be ok. The day would be worse if I let on just how hung-over I really was.

Edward wrapped his arm around Katy and said he'd see me in English, when he saw Bella waiting for us by the walkway into the school. They took the long way around to go to Katy's locker, and I went to say hi to Bella.

I swear, she had absolutely no right to look as fresh and unfazed as she did this morning. I might be small, but I could hold my liquor, and she'd had to basically carry me to the door last night, totally shit-faced drunk off my ass, and she'd had more to drink than me. I knew she had, I'd tried to keep up with her, but I'd been gone by the time we left for Seattle. I just remembered bits and pieces of the night. I knew it had been fun, and nothing bad had happened, but beyond that it was a blur.

"Hi Alice," Bella said as I walked over to her. "How's your head this morning?"

"It's still attached to my shoulders, but I wish it wasn't. I think I'll live." We started to walk into the school so I could go to my locker. "How are you feeling?" I asked her

"I'm good. I just wanted to say thanks' for being a friend and listening to me go on, yesterday. It's been a long time since I had anyone to talk to that could understand what I've been through." Bella told me as we went inside.

"I needed it just as much, Bella. Edward and Carlisle are great, but I haven't had anyone I could really open up to, since mom died. I hadn't realized how much I was still holding in. Thanks' for being there for me," And she reached her arm around my shoulder and gave me a hug as we walked down the hall to our lockers.

We went to our lockers and I dropped off my school bag and got my things for first period. I met Bella in the hall on our way to class, and we walked together.

"Today, you're going to sit with me at lunch," I told Bella on our way down the hall. "I don't want to hear any argument; you're going to meet people here."

"You seem pretty sure of that," Bella said, but she smiled. "I don't really like anything on the menu here, but I liked our lunch yesterday."

"Well, I can't make a habit of that, and trust me, I'm not going to be eating any lunch today either. Come meet some of my friends today, and maybe we can go out for lunch again some other time."

"Ok, I'll meet your friends, but I'm going to hold you to that lunch date. I think I like the open campus policy so I can just leave during lunch."

We walked into AP English, and Edward was sitting next to Jasper, chatting when we came through the door. I sat in the empty seat next to Edward, and Bella sat down next to me. I suppose I could have sat next to Jasper, but I knew that would have been awkward at this point. I had to be patient and let things play out the way they were supposed to happen.

I could tell that Edward was making an effort to avoid Bella, but his gaze would keep drifting back to her, and she would stare at him. It was kind of funny when they'd catch each others eye and realize they were both looking, and then their attention would snap back to the lecture. Finally the class ended, and we left to go our separate ways.

I survived the rest of the morning, and was waiting at the cafeteria when I saw Bella walking over to me, alone.

"Hi, Bella," I said when she got close. "Where's Jasper?" I asked as we walked inside.

"He decided to take advantage of the open campus policy," Bella said. "He wanted to take a look around at the other options for lunch."

"Huh, Liquid diet?" I asked.

"In a manor of speaking," she replied cryptically. "So where are Edward and Katy?" Bella asked, looking around the lunch room.

"They decided to go out for lunch today, too" I told her.

She frowned, and her eyes darkened a bit, but she sighed and nodded her head and followed me to the table where my friends usually sat. Everyone was still in the lunch line, so we sat at the table, and waited for people to come join us.

Angela Webber was the first to come sit down. She was shy, but she was a good person and had a big heart. She dragged her boyfriend Ben Cheney over, and they sat with us, and I introduced Bella again. They'd met her at the drive-in, but it couldn't hurt. Jessica showed up next. I'm sure she wanted the story why we'd left school at lunch yesterday, and she wouldn't pass up a chance for juicy gossip. Of course Mike Newton followed her over and sat with her. Eric and Tyler came to sit with Mike, and Tyler brought Lauren with him. Once we were surrounded, the rest of the table filled up with the usual crowd.

Bella seemed a little uncomfortable at first, but she settled in once the conversation got rolling. Of course, Jessica wanted to know where we'd been yesterday, and why we weren't eating today, but I just told here it was a touch of stomach flu, and I was still feeling a little queasy today. She didn't seem to buy the story, and rolled her eyes, but I stuck to the story. Bella backed me up, saying that she'd had the same bug, and winked at me at our little secret.

Lunch was relatively painless, and it seemed like Bella was fitting in and getting to know people. I invited her to come over after school so we could hang out and work on our homework. She seemed reluctant at first, but I told her Carlisle would be at the clinic, and Edward had practice, and would probably go over to Katy's after. She finally agreed, and I asked her if it was alright if I rode home with her, so I could just leave the car for Edward. She said yes, and then the bell rang ending lunch.

We got up to leave, and I stopped her and pulled her aside before we went into the main school building. I'd been putting it off, but she needed to know about Edward, and I didn't want her to go into Chemistry without knowing that he wanted to talk to her.

"Bella, I have to warn you, Edward is upset about something that happened Monday night. He wouldn't talk to me about it, but he seemed upset with you. We were gone yesterday afternoon, but I think he's going to say something during Chemistry."

"Ok, do you have any idea what's bothering him?" she asked.

"No, he wouldn't tell me anything," I told her, "but he was upset, late Monday night when he came home from Katy's house."

Bella sighed, and nodded her head. "Ok, Alice thanks for the warning. I think I know what it is."

We went into the school then to go to our lockers. I collected my things for AP Chemistry and hurried to the classroom in the new north wing and signed Mr. Banner's sign in sheet at the front of the room. Bella was already sitting on the stool at her table, and I went to go sit next to Jessica.

Edward came into the room, and signed in, and looked at me. I tried to will him to be nice, and I hoped my look conveyed my hope that he'd give Bella a chance. He just nodded to me, and walked back to take his seat.

He started talking to her as soon as he sat down, and neither of them seemed very happy. I couldn't hear what they said as they spoke in harsh whispers, but I could see Bella's eyes flash with anger as she gripped the edge of the desk. Edward seemed to restrain himself from saying more, but then he reached into his pocket and laid something on the desk in front of Bella. She froze, and if she wasn't already so pale, I'm sure she would have blanched white in shock. She slid the object off the desk and put it in her pocket. Edward made a final comment, and then they both turned their attention to the front of the room and were silent.

They were seated behind me as I sat through the class, but when I was able to look in their direction, I could see them both sitting stiffly, studiously ignoring each other as they gave their attention to the class. I wondered how long they'd be able to keep it up, but for now it appeared that their mutual stubbornness was winning out over the attraction I knew they felt for each other.

Jessica was bursting with curiosity about what had happened between Edward and Bella. They had obviously fought about something, and she pestered me for details, but she finally started to believe me that I was just as in the dark as her. I had my suspicions about what was going on, but I wouldn't say anything yet, it would just drive them further apart. I knew if I just left it alone and followed my plan, things would work out in time.

The bell finally rang, ending the class, and Bella practically ran from the room. I saw Jasper in the hall but she dashed past him as she fled from the building. I hoped that she would remember that she was supposed to come over this afternoon. I collected my things, and met Edward in the hallway as Jessica, Angela, and Mike joined us as I headed toward US History II.

They all wanted to know what Edward had said to Bella during Chemistry, but he stood his ground and just said it was a private matter, and wouldn't say anything else. He looked at me, and I just sighed and nodded my head. I'd prefer him to be friends with her, but if he could at least keep this private, it was a step in the right direction.

I sat down next to Edward in US History II, and there were a couple of minutes before class started.

"So are you going to tell me what you said to her, Edward?" I asked when I sat down next to him.

"I told you I'd handle it my own way. She lied, and I caught her in her lie. She's your new best friend, if you want the details, ask Bella."

"I will if I feel I need to. Bella's coming over tonight after school, so we can work on our homework together. I'm riding home with Bella and Jasper. I'll leave the Volvo so you have it after cross country practice. Are you going to come home, or are you going over to Katy's tonight?"

"If you're taking Bella to our house," Edward said, "then I'll probably go over to Katy's after practice tonight so we can do our homework together. I don't think Bella would be too happy to see me. Are you going to come to the drive-in to hang out tonight?"

"Homework, hmm, is that what you're calling it these days? Her mom's back to work at the diner and her dad's still on the road, just what are you two going to study?" I asked Edward with a grin.

He played innocent, but then grinned back at me. "We'll just have to see what comes up, I'm sure it'll be worth studying."

"You're incorrigible. Just make sure Katy's ok with the subject before you start studying, alright? I might come to the drive-in tonight. I'll play it by ear. I'll call you if I need a ride, ok?

"No problem, Alice. I'll see you tonight."

Mr. Abrams got the class going then, and we stopped talking to pay attention. The class went by fast, and I was finally starting to feel human again. The bell rang ending the school day, and I left to go to my locker to collect my things that I'd need to do my homework tonight.

I walked out to the parking lot, and Bella was waiting by the red Dodge Charger. She seemed a little apprehensive as I walked up to her.

"Hi, Bella, so, are you ready to go?" I asked her. "Where's Jasper, is he still changing from Gym class?"

"Hi, Alice, I wasn't sure if you'd still want me to come over today. What did Edward tell you?"

"Edward wouldn't tell me what you argued about. He said I'd have to ask you if I wanted the details, but I don't care about that. You're my friend, and yes, I still want you to come over."

"Thanks' Alice. I'm glad you're my friend too. Jasper had to run some errands in town, and he said he'd find his own way home, so I guess we're on our own again."

"Ok, well let's go," and I walked around and got into the car. Bella got in to drive, and we pulled out of the parking lot. The radio came on when she started the car. It was still tuned to the same oldies station we'd listened to yesterday. It was cool, I liked a lot of different music, and Carlisle played this station a lot, because it played a lot of 80's rock classics that he'd listened to when he was in high school.

"So, Bella, I never got a chance to ask you yesterday, but I heard part of what went on the first day of school in the parking lot. Is this your car?"

"I guess I was kind of loud the other day, wasn't I? Yeah, this is my car. Rose got it for me for my birthday, last year. Jasper didn't think we should let people know it was mine, so we were going to pretend that it was the Dahlke's new car, but after that first day, there was no way I was going to let Marilyn drive it again."

"Yeah, she looked pretty loaded when she came to pick you up," I said.

"She's going through a tough time with Rich, and started drinking, but I'm not going to let her wreck my car just to look like we fit in."

That was interesting. I knew Bella and Jasper didn't have a normal foster care arrangement, and Rich Dahlke wasn't the type to volunteer as a foster parent. So if they were going to pretend the car was the Dahlke's so they could look like they fit in, I wondered just what kind of arrangement they really had and what was really going on.

We were quiet for the rest of the drive, but it was a short trip to my house and we were pulling into the drive next to the house after about five minutes. Bella pulled up in front of the garage and parked, and we collected our things and went into the house.

"Can I get you anything to drink, or would you like a snack?" I asked as we walked through the house.

Bella was thoughtful for a second, and then smiled at something she considered funny, but replied, "No, I'm good. Where do you want to work on our homework?"

"C'mon, let's go up to my room. We'll be more comfortable up there," and I led the way up the stairs and down the hall to my room.

I opened the door and went in, and tossed my school bag on my double bed, kicked off my stiletto heel ankle booties, and flopped on the bed next to my bag. I rolled over to lie on my stomach, and leaned on my elbows, as Bella laid her bag on my desk and sat down in the chair in front of it, but pulled it around so she could see me and I watched her look around my room.

The room was large compared to the typical bedroom in more modern houses. There was a wide window across one end of the room that looked out on the forest and river. I had two overstuffed French chairs and a low table arranged for conversation and to enjoy the view out the window. The desk was in the corner with my laptop stereo and a small electric fan. There was a tower rack next to the desk with my CD's.

Bella reached over and hit the power button on the stereo, and a CD environmental sounds and easy listening music started up. I'd had it in while I was meditating the other night, and Bella turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

"I listen to that to relax while I meditate. Go ahead and turn on the radio."

"Sure, Alice, whatever you say," she said with a smile, and turned the selector to FM. The local pop station came on, she adjusted the tuner to the oldies station we'd been listening to in the car, and the classic 80's rock program came on. A song by the Scorpions was ending, and the DJ said that a block of AC-DC was coming up next.

"This is what I listen to, when I want to relax," she said with a grin on her face, and then she continued looking around my room.

On the wall opposite the door was a low wide double dresser, with a vanity section in the center and a lighted vanity mirror. There was a purple velvet upholstered vanity bench under the center vanity, and my makeup and jewelry boxes were arranged on top the dresser and vanity.

My bed was a princess style double bed with lavender and pink canopy and curtains pulled back to the corner columns. I had a purple velvet comforter on the bed right now, with purple and green pillows. There was another low wide three drawer dresser on the wall opposite the foot of the bed, and my sword was on the top of the dresser on its display stand. My trophies, medals and awards were arranged on top of the dresser and on the wall above it. The closet door was beyond the dresser and bed, on the wall opposite the window.

The room had hardwood floors, but there was a large soft circular rug in the center of the room and a low table with candles, incense and my tarot card off to one side and another oval rug on the floor next to my bed. Beyond that, the room was relatively Spartan and neat. There were no posters or pictures, except for a framed picture of Carlisle, Elizabeth, and Edward when he was fourteen on my nightstand next to my clock radio.

Bella was getting her books out and a notebook to start her homework, so I grabbed my bag and pulled out my homework. I had quite a lot tonight, because we'd missed AP Chemistry and my US History II classes yesterday. Now I had yesterday's homework on top of what had been assigned today. None of it was difficult, there was just more to do. I'd have to make a point of getting ahead in my reading for AP English later to night and over the weekend, but I'd save that for later.

"So, Alice, can I help you with any of your homework, to help you get caught up," Bella asked as her pencil flew across the page of her notebook. She didn't stop writing as she asked me, and I realized she had her trig book out and was writing out the steps of the problems as she figured the answers in her head.

"Umm, I'm good. It'll just take me some time to go through the lessons. I'm pretty good with numbers, and I'm taking pre-Calculus this year.

"Well, let me know if you want to share, we both have AP Chemistry and US History II, if you want, I can do one or the other, and we can switch off. They're all just chapter review questions anyhow, so all the answers are in the book."

I had my Calculus book out, and was working through the second problem, when Bella put her Trig away and got out her Chemistry book. She flipped to the chapter we were working on, and started to scan the page. She flipped to the next page, and scanned it, and she couldn't possibly be reading the chapter that fast. She'd scan a page for a few seconds, flip, scan, flip, scan, and then she laid the textbook on the desk open to the review questions, and started writing out the answers in her notebook. She was putting away her Chemistry when I was about halfway through my Calculus assignment.

I couldn't resist anymore. "Hey, Bella let me take a look at your Chemistry," I asked, curious.

"Sure, Alice, no problem, I'll go ahead and work on the US History II anyhow, if you don't mind, ok?"

"Yeah, go ahead, I'm just curious," as I opened her notebook to the assignments she had just completed. She'd done both last night's homework and the assignment from today. She'd never flipped back through the book to hunt for an answer or double check herself. The work was written out in her neat flowing script, with both the question and the answers which were annotated with the page number and paragraph from the textbook that contained the pertinent information for a reference.

Bella was scanning through the US History textbook when I laid her chemistry notebook down, and went back to my Calculus. She was finishing the history homework about the time I was done with pre-Calculus.

"Jasper always gets so mad, when these textbooks make mistakes about history," Bella said with a smile. "He's a real history buff, but his favorite period is the Civil War. I can imagine him having some heated discussions with Mr. Abrams, if this book is any indication."

"Hmm, I guess that explains all the gray. I take it Jasper fancies himself a Southern Gentleman then?"

"Oh yeah, definitely the 'South will Rise Again' type, but he's not a bigot or prejudiced. He hates it that the history makes such a big deal about the slavery issue, and he can go on for hours about states rights and the economics and politics that led to the formation of the Confederacy and the war."

She handed me the History notebook, and got out her Spanish. I didn't really consider it cheating, I didn't copy her work, but she had the page number and paragraph listed where I could find the answers, and it made a good study guide to look up the information. So far, it was flawlessly accurate, and I started looking up the answers to the questions and writing them out.

Bella finished her Spanish assignment about the time I was done with the first AP Chemistry assignment, and then she said, "Let me take a look at you pre-Calculus homework, Alice." I assumed she was curious, but she was only taking trig this year.

I handed her my book and the assignment I had completed. She flipped it open to the assignment, and I watched her scan down the page. She opened my notebook, and then to my surprise, she got out a pencil and started to make notes on my assignment.

"What are you doing, Bella," I asked, worried because it had taken me a lot of effort to complete that assignment.

She came over to the bed, and sat on the edge, and laid the book and notebook between us. "Here, Alice, I checked your work. This is pretty good, but you need to make a couple of corrections," and she pointed to the notes she'd made on my paper.

"Thanks' Bella," I said, a little stunned, as I looked at the notes she'd made, and the mistakes were obvious now that she'd pointed them out to me. I went back to working on my chemistry assignment. I'd make the corrections when I was done.

Bella was done with her homework, as I frantically tried to catch up. "So, Bella, what do you think of AP English, have you had time to get much of the reading done yet?" I asked.

"Actually, I've already read most of the novels on the syllabus. I'm looking forward to some of the poetry, but I wish Mrs. Jensen would assign the first paper, or hand out a work list for the quarter, so I could get started on some of the other work." Of course, it figured. Well, I wasn't the jealous type. Maybe I could get Bella to tutor me. It would definitely make it easier to keep up with her around.

Bella got up from my bed, and walked around, looking around my room as I worked on my homework. She spent some time looking over my trophies and medals. My Third Dan Taekwondo Black Belt certificate was framed and hung in the center of the display. She spent some time looking at my sword, but she didn't touch it. On the end of the dresser, my gumdo sparring equipment was laid out, with the steel wire cage facemask and headgear, the padded gauntlets, and a bokuto wooden practice sword.

She walked back to the window and looked out, and then turned back to me. She seemed to clear her throat and swallow, and looked a little uncomfortable. "Alice, I'm gonna go out and have a cigarette, while you finish up, ok?"

"Don't bother, open the window and turn on the fan on the desk. You don't have to go outside."

She smiled, "Ok," and she pushed the window open, and turned on the small electric fan on the desk. She got her cigarettes out of her purse and sat down in the chair next to the window and lit her cigarette.

"There's an ashtray in the drawer in the table," I told her, and she reached down and pulled the drawer open, and took out a heavy looking purple glass ashtray, and set it on top of the table.

I had given up using the book now, and just used Bella's answers as my reference and paraphrased them and wrote out responses based on the information she'd written out. Her answers were practically verbatim from the text anyhow, and double checking against the book seemed like a waste of time.

All I had left was French now, and I hurried through that and I was finished. I was done earlier than I'd expected, and Bella's help had made the work speed by. I collected my books and loaded them back into my bag, and got up and set it by the door. I pushed the door shut and locked it, and then went to the low table on the rug in the middle of the room, and lit my incense.

I took my keys out of my pocket as I walked over to the other chair next to Bella, and sat down. The table was a low ornately carved oriental design in black lacquered cedar, and it was lined with fragrant cedar panels. I used the key to open the cabinet under the table, facing us, and took out a purple glass water bong and Ziploc baggie, and set it on the table.

"Cool, now you're talking," Bella said as I opened the baggie and loaded the bowl.

I held my finger over the carburetor hole, and fired up the bud in the bowl with my lighter. The pungent smoke bubbled through the water as I put my mouth over the end of the pipe and took a big hit, then moved my finger off the carburetor to suck in the smoke lingering inside the pipe of the bong. I held the smoke in my lungs, and passed the water pipe to Bella. I blew the smoke out the window and watched it dissipate on the light breeze from the fan.

"Mmm, yeah, it feels good to relax after a long day. My head was pounding so hard when I got up this morning. I almost feel human again," I said as I reached for the bong. Bella laughed, as she blew the smoke out the window and handed me back the pipe. She was still laughing as I took it. She couldn't be stoned already, and I didn't see what was so funny.

"Almost human, yeah, I can see that," she said with a big grin. "This is some good shit, Alice." Bella told me as I took another hit.

I held in the smoke, and handed her back the bong. I blew it out the window, and then Bella handed the water pipe back to me.

"Alice, I was looking around. Are those tarot cards on the table over there? Bella asked.

I took another hit, and I was starting to feel pretty mellow. My mind was starting to wander and I felt my awareness start to drift. "Yes, they're my tarot cards, but I don't really read them in the traditional sense," I said as the smoke flowed out of me and drifted in patterns around me. "I use the cards to channel the possible and sometimes I can see a person's path."

Bella was giving me a strange serious look as though she could see something that I couldn't as the smoke swirled and drifted. Bella made to hand me back the pipe, but I held up my hand and shook my head. "Finish it, or put it out." She took another hit and then blew the smoke out the window.

"Will you tell my fortune for me, Alice?" Bella asked.

"People always say they want to know the future, but all they ever want to hear is good news. They never want to hear the bad news. I can't control what I see. I don't always even remember all of it. It freaks Edward and Carlisle out, if I really let myself go."

"I've been through a lot, you know about it, Alice. I can handle the bad news or the good, I just want to know, ok?" she pleaded. Well, I'd warned her.

I got up and moved to the rug, and melted down into a cross-legged seat next to the low table as I took a deep breath and centered myself. I closed my eyes and let my awareness drift and my hand found the cards. I shuffled and cut the deck, and shuffled again and spread a pattern with the cards on the rug in front of me. I opened my eyes, as my awareness danced at the edge of the room, and I was aware of Bella sitting cross-legged in front of me.

I gathered the cards, shuffled and cast another pattern as my awareness shifted and focused on Bella. I could feel her aura and sense her strength of will. I saw her path and the decisions that would affect it. She felt foreign and strange, but I had seen this before. I closed my eyes again as my awareness flowed out and looked at the possible and what might be and what would be as our lives became more tightly intertwined and our futures moved along the same path.

My hands moved with a will of their own as the cards came together and I shuffled and laid another pattern. The room was silent, and I could still feel Bella, but she wasn't breathing. The air was still and she didn't move as she sat motionless as a stone. And then I heard her sharp intake of breath as I finally spoke.

"I know you and Jasper are different, Bella. I don't know why or how, but you have a secret, and you aren't ready to share it yet. I'm ok with that. You need to know, I'm not going to tell anyone. I can feel my connection to Jasper, just like what you and Edward are going through. I know that someday, I'm going to be like you and Jasper."

My hands moved as I flipped the cards and they landed in front of me on the rug, drawn into the pattern as though they were connected to the rug by elastic and they snapped into position as I let them go. My eyes were open but I couldn't see, as my eyes rolled back in my head showing only the whites. I passed my hand over the rug, and felt the cards gather to me as they moved to my hand like a magnetic pull.

"Edward can feel his connection to you too, but he doesn't understand what's happening, and he's confused. He was warned not to fall in love with Katy, and to wait for you, but things are complicated now. You need to give it time. Edward will figure it out, but it's going to take time and there is going to be pain and hurt feelings before there is a clear resolution. We cannot try to lead him or guide his path, or he will fight us and make the wrong decisions."

I had never felt the path before us so clearly, as my hands moved and the cards snapped back out into a new pattern I could feel the energy of the possible crackle around me, and it was like I was suspended above us, as I watched my hands move, my body breathed, my lips move, I spoke words.

"Edward will have to make a choice, when the one who has gone to Italy returns. The day will come when he has to make a choice between the girl that owns his heart, and the girl that owns his soul. One choice leads to death. One choice leads to life. Both choices lead to blinding, searing pain."

I saw the cusp, the point of decision that would affect all of our lives, but it had to be governed by free will. We could not make the choice for him. The paths radiated out from this point, but I couldn't look beyond it. I strained against the barrier, but my awareness faded as I beat myself against the future and it reached out and slammed me down. My back arched and the breath was knocked out of my lungs as though I'd been punched hard in my solar plexus and the blackness took me.

******

I was lying on my back, and I could feel something cool and wet on my face. I cracked my eyes open, I was in my room lying on my bed.

"Alice, are you ok?" Bella asked sounding anxious. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping my forehead with a cool cloth.

"Whoa, that was a rush. What did I say?" I lied. I knew it would be easier for Bella if I pretended not to remember. I felt her relax a little as she sat next to me.

"Oh, a bunch of different things that didn't make much sense," Bella lied to me. "You talked about Edward, and Jasper and me."

"No, You and Edward, and Jasper and me," I corrected. It'll be like that in time, I can feel it, but you can't force it, you have to give Edward time." I felt Bella tense, but I started to get up and felt a head rush as the room spun and teetered a bit.

"Whew, I haven't had that strong an experience in a while now, it must have been intense. I didn't freak you out, did I?" I sat up on the bed, and took Bella's hands in mine. She tried to pull away, but I held her hands and shook my head. "It's alright, are you ok? Thanks' for taking care of me, again." Her hands were ice cold and hard, but I ignored it. She seemed apprehensive to let me touch her, but started to relax when I didn't react badly to the feel of her hands.

"No, I'm not freaked out. It was kind of scary, and strange, but I'm cool with it. Trust me; I've seen a lot of weird shit in my life. So, are you like psychic, Alice?"

"I guess you could call it that. I've never really given it a name, what I do, but I've been able to get a general sense of how events will play out for a long time now. It's gotten stronger since I started meditating about six years ago." I didn't need to give her all the details now; she'd figure those out in time.

"That is so cool. So, can I talk about this, or is this something private?" Bella asked.

"I've never talked to any of my other friends about this. Only Edward and my dad know. I'd prefer to keep it between us, ok?

"No problem, Alice, your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks' Bella."

Bella looked over her shoulder at the display of martial arts trophies, awards, and certificates on the wall and dresser across from the foot of my bed.

"So, it looks like you've been studying martial arts for a long time, Alice."

"Ever since I was ten, Elizabeth, my mom got me signed up, and I've been doing it ever since. I've studied Taekwondo, and started training in Gumdo sword for the last two years."

Bella got up and walked over to the dresser, and I got up and followed her.

"Can I look at your sword, Alice?" Bella asked

"Yes, but be very careful, it's a real, battle-ready blade, and it's extremely sharp…"

Bella reverently picked up the katana with two hands, and then moved her left hand to the kurikata holding the blue lacquered saya in the traditional position with the curve and sharp edge of the blade facing up. She pushed her thumb against the tsuba as she gripped the tsuka to loosen the habaki and slid the blade of the katana about six inches out of the koiguchi. She examined the blade as she moved to the center of the room.

"This is one of the Hanwei Forge Orchid Katana series, isn't it, Alice? The hamon is distinct and prominent and the hada shows good grain pattern and distinct layers. Hanwei folds these blades to 1024 layers, don't they?"

"Yes, it's a hand forged and folded K120C powder steel blade, differentially tempered using the traditional claying method to produce a 60 Rockwell C edge and 40 Rockwell C back. Hanwei only imported one hundred pieces of the Orchid Katana pattern. It's one of their lighter blades, only 2lb 3oz, and a medium kissaki with a twenty-eight inch blade length."

Bella automatically assumed shizentai posture as she stepped into the center of the room and knelt to sit in sageto. I heard her whisper "Kamae To" under her breath, and she drew the sword, leaving the saya on the carpet and stepped into chudan, the basic stance, to feel the weight and balance of the weapon.

The blade flashed and I could hear it whistle as it cleaved the still air in the room as Bella flawlessly ran through a basic kata. Thrust, a twist of the elbows to bring the blade back in, rising slash, follow through, reverse, attack, parry, guard, and then she was back at the beginning.

She knelt to sit in sageto beside the saya, and then flourished the katana through osameto, giving the slight flick of the blade that was designed to shake the blood off the blade, bringing the tsuba against her left thumb, drawing the blade forward and aligning the tip of the blade with the koiguchi, then sliding it through her left hand into the saya to assume taito. She rose holding the Katana in sageto as she turned and walked back over to me.

She raised the katana before me in two hands and bowed to me, flawlessly executing ritsu rei, bowing from the shizentai position, bending her body from the hip at a precise 15 degree angle, while looking me in the eye like she'd bow to an opponent, as she presented the sword.

I accepted the katana, and returned the bow. "You've had training, but your technique looks more like Kenjitsu than Gumdo." It was a statement, not a question.

"Jasper's been working with me for a while now. He says it's something important that I need to learn. I like the training. It relaxes me and gives me something to focus my mind on."

I walked back over to the dresser, and returned the katana to the display stand, and Bella followed me over as I stood by the end of the dresser.

"So Jasper is into the martial arts? Does he practice any other techniques or go to competitions? I've never seen him at any of the tournaments I go to."

"Jasper is an awesome fighter. He's scary fast and extremely skilled, but he doesn't compete in tournaments or competitions. I heard him talking to Esteban about a tournament that they'd gone to in Paris once, but I've never seen him go to any since I've known him."

"That's cool; at least Jasper and I have something in common. Who's this Esteban he was talking to? Is he a friend of yours?"

"I guess you could say Esteban is Jasper's teacher or mentor, kind of like a sensei, but Jasper was already very skilled before he met Esteban. They've trained together for years, but Esteban had to go away for a while"

"So, what else has Jasper taught you, do you just practice the forms, or do you do any sparring too?"

"Oh, trust me; we do a lot of sparring. Jasper says it doesn't do any good to learn techniques and theories, unless I can use them in the real world. We practice everyday."

I shivered at the thought. Why would anybody consider being skilled at fighting with a sword to be a relevant, real world skill? Sure, Taekwondo, and other unarmed fighting techniques were useful for self-defense, and were trained by many of the world's police forces and militaries, but sword fighting? That was more of an obscure hobby in this day and age. There were martial arts clubs that held competitions, and historical societies and clubs that practiced a variety of sword combat forms, but nobody really fought with swords in the modern world, did they?

"It's still early out. I've got more gear in the closet. Want to show me what you've got?" I asked intrigued to gauge her skill level.

"I don't know, Alice. I don't want to hurt you…"

Ok, that was it; we were so going to do this. Hurt me…Hah! I opened the closet, and tossed Bella a set of head gear with a wire cage face mask and a pair of padded gauntlets.

"Are you ok with bokuto, or would you prefer to start off with shinai?" I asked. Bokuto were hardwood practice swords, but could do real damage, like being hit with a baseball bat or Billy club. Shinai were bundled strips of bamboo, and while they could sting when they hit and leave a welt, they were softer and did less damage if you made a mistake.

"Bokuto are ok. Jasper and I usually spar with kagum or live steel, but I don't want to hurt you," Bella said.

That made me pause for a couple of heartbeats. Kagum were blunted steel practice swords, used for advanced sparring between recognized experts, and nobody sparred with live steel except some really hardcore fringe groups that fought in full armor, unless they had a real death wish. I took a bokuto out of the rack on the wall in my closet and tossed it to Bella, and she plucked it out of the air with a flourish.

I picked up my gear off the dresser, and we went downstairs and out the side door in the kitchen. There was a small covered patio behind the kitchen, but we didn't come sit outside very often. There usually wasn't anyone home but me in the afternoon, and I was usually working on homework or training. Carlisle was at the clinic, and Edward would usually have practice afterschool, and then he'd either go to Katy's or they'd be up in his room.

We stopped on the patio to put on our protective gear, and I had to help Bella adjust it to fit. For someone who claimed to spar as much as she did, she seemed unfamiliar with how to wear the protective equipment. I had a crazy thought; she couldn't be sparring with live steel and not even be using basic protective equipment, that was crazy, an accident waiting to happen. She took off her boots, and I got her setup, and then we moved out onto the lawn behind the house in our bare feet.

"Any rules, Alice?" Bella asked as she took her basic stance, about five yards across the lawn from me.

"Let's keep it simple for now, ok? Just sword work, no kicks or punches, stop at first blood, head, neck, body touches are kills, ok?"

"Ok, sounds good to me. Any last words?" Bella asked, and I could see her grinning through her mask.

"Just one, PALDO!", the command to draw the sword and my bokuto flashed out in front of me as I drew, and took three large steps, covering the distance between us, and lunged into a thrust.

Bella's bokuto flashed out into the ready position as she drew and stepped forward into chudan. Her bokuto intercepted mine and knocked my thrust out of line. I twisted my elbows and pulled the bokuto back to guard, then stepped into the cut as I brought the blade forward to attack, straight cut, left cut, right cut, thrust, as I drove Bella back and her bokuto blocked my flurry.

Bella parried the thrust, knocking my blade out of line, then her bokuto was flashing towards my face in a rising sweep. I anticipated the cut at the last second, and ducked out of line as the bokuto whistled over my head. She reversed, and pulled the bokuto into a sweep to my legs and I jumped as the blade flashed under my feet, then I was backpedaling as Bella took the role of aggressor and moved to the attack.

Right 45 deg cut, left 45 deg cut, side cut, side cut. She was fast, and was inside my stance now. She made another sweep to my legs, but it was a feint, and she shoulder rolled past me as I jumped to avoid the blade. Bella made a sweeping cut to her rear as she came to her feet, and I expected to feel fire across my ribs as the sword connected, but it stopped mid-swing, and I felt the lightest feather touch along my side of my ribcage.

"Umm, you look good for a dead girl, Alice." Bella said as she flourished the bokuto and returned it to the rest position at her left hip.

"Beginners luck," Alice said with a smile. "Again?"

"Yeah, ok, that was fun. How would you like to die this time, Alice?" Bella asked.

"Hah! I took it easy on you, this time…"

We sparred in the yard for the next hour, and had fun until the sun started to sink onto the horizon and it was twilight. I managed to get Bella once, but I had my suspicions that she had let me win, as I 'died' five more times. I had to admit, I was surprised by her speed, reflexes, and control. Either she had a ton of natural talent, or she'd been practicing for more years than made sense from the history that she'd given me yesterday.

If she ran away from home at fifteen, lived homeless on the streets of Seattle for months until her shoes wore out, and then was taken in by Esme and Rose until she came to Forks, how did she manage to fit in years of martial arts and sword training? She was supposed to be about the same age as me, and I'd be turning seventeen next month. The dates didn't add up, unless she was older than she looked, but she looked seventeen.

I was sweating like a pig, and needed a shower, but Bella wasn't even breathing hard. We collected the gear, and went back into the house. Bella had no right to look as fresh as she did, after that workout, her shirt was still dry, and she hadn't even started to sweat! We walked back upstairs to my room, and put away the sparring gear.

"I need to take a shower and change." I said as I collected my things to go shower. "Do you want to go to the drive-in tonight, Bella? We could ride over together, or Edward said he'd come get me if I needed a ride."

"Sure, that sounds like fun, but I need to change first."

"We can try and find you something here, Bella, if you don't want to go home to change."

"I don't think many of your clothes would fit me, Alice, but I still have that outfit in the car, that I got in Port Angeles, yesterday. I'll wear it if you have something like it too. I don't want to be the only girl there in a skirt."

"Ok, deal, go get your clothes and I'll jump in the shower, and then you can get in when I'm done."

We walked down the hall, and I turned into the bathroom, and Bella went out to her car to her car to get her clothes. I had a vague recollection of the outfit that we'd picked out for her yesterday, and I was surprised she had bought a skirt that short, but we'd been joking about what we'd wear to get a guys attention, and we both knew we were really talking about Edward. I knew it would make Edward's eyes pop, and I was going to have to wear something at least as revealing, to match Bella and show my support, but I didn't mind if Jasper would be there to see it.

This was going to be fun! I couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when we got to the drive-in tonight.

Author's Notes:

Definitions of some words used in this Story (My own interpretation, other opinions may differ):

Bokuto/Bokken (Japanese) – A wooden martial arts practice sword styled like a Katana

Saya (Japanese) - A scabbard for a Katana

Tsuka (Japanese) – The handle/grip of the Katana

Tsuka-gashira (Japanese) - The end of the grip of the sword

Tsuba (Japanese) – Disk like guard between the handle and the blade. Designed to prevent an opponent's blade form sliding up the sword and cutting the hands on the tsuka.

Ritsu rei (Japanese) – The ritual art of bowing while standing

Shizentai (Japanese) – the normal posture for the way of the sword: Relaxed but not lazy: straighten the back of your neck, chin pulled in, back straight, tighten the butt cheeks. Feet with heels together and toes out at a 45deg angle apart.

Sageto (Japanese) – The position to walk with the sword, with the sword held on the left side hanging down with the arm straight. The tsuka-gashira must be kept within the line of your body in front of you.

Taito (Japanese) - lift the sword in your left hand to the hipbone in imitation of a samurai who carried their swords in their belt. The position to draw the sword from when worn in your belt.

Chudan (Japanese) – The basic sword stance with the sword drawn and extending in front of you.

Osameto (Japanese)/ Chakgum (Korean) – The art of flourishing the sword to return it to the scabbard. The Katana is carried with the sharp edge facing up. Usually includes a flourish to reverse the blade, a flick of the wrist to shake the blood off of the blade, the tsuba is placed against the opening of the saya and then the sword is drawn forward through the fingers of the left hand. The tip is inserted into the saya, and then the sword is slid into the saya. In combat, a rag or pom would be held in the hand to wipe blood from the blade during osameto before returning the blade to the saya.

Paldo (Korean) – Draw the Sword (to attack)

This was a difficult chapter to post, I kept wondering if I should go back and edit out parts of the scene at the bar in the bowling alley, but I felt it was important to the story to get their stories out. Chapter 4 is done and I'm about halfway through chapter 5. Chapter 4 returns to EPOV (Edward). The way things are planned out now, Alice should be back for chapter 7

Please review, and let me know what you think.