A/N: So, here's chapter 11! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Linkin Park, or Debussy.

We got there, I changed and reminded Charlie that I was going shopping. All very simple.

Shopping on the other hand…

Alice was convinced that I needed pretty much everything in the store.

"Alice, I don't need this stuff! I'm not kidding! You don't have to spend so much on me! At least let me pay!" One, if not all, of those statements was said at least, every five minutes.

She would reply with, "Oh of course you do! Oh yes I do! Oh no you won't!"

"Alice, what is that for?" I asked nodding at the skirt and blouse; both of them were pale fabrics but looked way too fancy for just a summer day.

"Why, the first day of school of course!"

I did the math… I was supposed to be visiting my mom from the 23rd of July to the 6th of August. I was at the pool on the 29th, which would mean that was the day my change began. Which would mean that the end of my change ended around the 1st. Edward and I went hunting that night, and I saw my parents the next day, Wednesday, the 2nd. Thursday was the day that I was with my mom, and then the game was that night. Yesterday was the oh-so-fateful day that mom and Charlie found out. That would make today, Saturday the 5th of August. School started on the 14th! Just over a week from now!

I was supposed to be back on the 7th, so I could be ready in time. Back then, a week sounded like plenty of time to be ready. Now, it didn't seem like enough. What was I going to do?

"Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Um…"

"Well, it's okay. You've been through a lot in the past week."

"That's an understatement."

"Consider these as 'welcome to the family' gifts."

"That makes it so much better."

It went on like that all day. We didn't need to stop for lunch, so we shopped through it.

It didn't stop at clothes, it went on to shoes.

"Alice! I can't wear those!" I said nodding to a pair of 4-inch heels. "I'll trip!" Then I remembered, I wouldn't trip, not even if I tried. "Well, won't it look suspicious if I'm in those and I don't trip? It's not a secret that I'm a klutz."

"True." She put them back. "There's always next time. We won't be here forever."

"Great."

After shoes, we went and got our nails done. Manicures and pedicures. I just couldn't relax though; Alice was spending all this money on me.

Finally, after our nails we piled everything in the convertible which Alice convinced Rosalie to loan us.

"We're going to have to get you a new car, since you like to drive so much."

"What do you mean? My truck's fine!"

"Have you driven it since your change?"

I shook my head.

"Don't, you'll die of the slowness of it."

I noticed that the speedometer was nearing 100, but I didn't even seem to notice or care or get freaked out like usual. It dawned on me that I hadn't even noticed Edward's driving speeds. I was going to have to sell the truck…

"We can total it, then you'll have to get a new one."

"Don't total the truck! You can at least sell it…"

"You can, then you can use the money on the next shopping trip, not that that money will go far."

I realized that I was going to have to start saving every penny I got if I ever wanted to buy my own things from now on.

We got back to Charlie's house and took the bags inside.

"We'll have to do something about these bags though, if Charlie sees them, he'll think I've made him go bankrupt. He won't believe you if you said you bought everything."

"We'll just take them back to our house then."

Not everything fit in my room. Hardly anything fit in the already full closet and dresser from the last shopping trip.

"That's okay; we'll just get you another dresser. Actually, I've got one that I stopped using after Jasper got me a new one for our anniversary. You can have that one. Wait here!"

She was gone for maybe 10 minutes.

"How did you fit that in the car?" I asked, nodding at the dresser she was carrying up the stairs.

"I didn't, I just ran with it, no one saw me," she added, noticing my worried expression.

I had to admit, it was a beautiful dresser. It was oak and looked quite nice in my room. It was also really, really big.

"I don't think you'll need your old one anymore."

"I've had that one since I was born!"

"Hmm, well if you want to keep it then we'll just put it here…" she then began to move my room around. I sat on the bed and watched.

She left all of my old clothes in my dresser. And put all my new clothes in the new one.

"We're going to have to see about more closet space later, when I get you things that need to be hung up."

"Okay." I could say nothing else.

We finished with my room and then we headed back to the Cullen's.

We hadn't even reached the driveway when I was overwhelmed with thoughts. One word seemed prominent: Camping.

"Camping?" I wondered aloud.

Alice smiled. "You'll see."

I hated waiting. I hated surprises too.

When we walked in the house, Jasper ushered us into the main room.

"Good, you guys are here! We were just planning our big camping trip before the new school year." Emmett said.

"Camping?" I asked again.

"We say camping, but we mean hunting." Rosalie said, flashing a big smile, topaz eyes glinting.

"Every year, before school starts, we go on a big hunting trip!" Alice was smiling too.

"Does this include me?" I asked.

"Of course!" Emmett said. "But if you can't go, Esme's already offered to stay behind."

I looked at Esme and she nodded. "I wouldn't leave you here alone, if you can't go, then I'll take you up to Goat Rocks."

"It's up to Charlie if I can go or not. I want to go, though."

"Then you can see a hunting trip, Cullen style." Jasper grinned.

I noticed that Edward had been silent throughout the whole conversation.

Silent are we?

I don't want to leave you if you can't go.

I'll ask Charlie, I'm sure he'll let me go.

I hope you're right.

By now, everyone had left to further plan and pack for the trip.

What do you want to do tonight?

Well, it's almost seven, Charlie will be home soon. I could run home and ask him. That and explain why I have a new dresser.

A crooked smile appeared on his face. So that's what Alice was doing with that. How much did she buy you?

Any more, and I'd own everything in the store.

That bad huh?

Worse.

He laughed.

Race you to Charlie's…

He was gone.

I raced to keep up with him. He was the fastest runner. I had just caught up to him when we reached Charlie's.

Charlie was already home.

I dug out my key and opened the front door.

"Dad?" I called.

"In the kitchen." Was the reply.

I went into the kitchen, Edward right behind me.

"You're home late…"

"I got tied up at Edward's. They're planning a big camping trip…"

"We plan to leave Monday morning and be back Wednesday afternoon." Edward put in.

"Can I go?" I pleaded.

"Camping? Bella, I'm not sure…"

"It's not just camping, it's hunting too," I flashed him a small smile to show my meaning, but not scare him at the same time.

"Oh. Well, who's all going?"

"All of us." Edward said. "Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, me, and Bella if you let her."

"There's no doubt that she'll be safe." He paused to consider it. "I suppose. Just as long as you'll have enough time to be ready for school when you get back."

"Promise dad."

"Oh, and what's with the other dresser in your room?"

"Alice gave it to me. She bought me all these new school clothes and they wouldn't all fit in my dresser."

"I hope you guys aren't going to go bankrupt over my daughter." Charlie said to Edward.

"No, we won't. Promise."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Edward's going to teach me how to play piano."

Charlie nodded, obviously amused. "Have fun."

"I'll be over early tomorrow to fix you breakfast before I start packing."

"All right, see you tomorrow morning."

Playing the piano was HARD!

Thank goodness Edward had a lot of patience.

I was going to have to learn patience, even if it took me an eternity.

Good thing I have an eternity.

I envied the way Edward's fingers flowed over the keys. His music was beautiful.

My music gave music a bad name.

I'm sure everyone else in the house had to have earplugs. This hurt my ears.

Once again, Edward re-placed my fingers and told me to try again.

If I had known this was going to be torture, I wouldn't have asked.

There was no way Edward was going to stop teaching me until I learned either.

He went up into his room and came down with a book called "Piano for Beginners."

It was a start.

By the 6:00 the next morning, I could play five versions of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in four different keys each.

I was actually pretty exited.

"You're progressing beautifully!"

"Thanks," I said, massaging my fingers. "Now I have to go home and cook breakfast for Charlie."

"I'll send Alice over later to help you pack."

He drew my face up and kissed me deeply on the lips.

I ran, dazed, all the way to Charlie's.

I fixed Charlie an omelet. Eggs had been on sale at the store.

He ate it and he loved it.

"Bella, you're still the greatest cook that has ever cooked for me."

"Thanks dad." I was pretty surprised that I could still cook. I could smell the food, but I couldn't taste it. But, obviously, I could still cook.

Charlie finished the omelet. "Will I see you tonight Bella?"

"I have more piano lessons, but I'll be home when you get here. We're leaving really early tomorrow morning, so I'll make sure to see you before we leave."

"Okay."

After that, the house was silent. Neither Charlie nor I were much of a talker.

Charlie left for work about ten minutes later.

The phone rang the minute he left.

Sighing, I picked it up.

"Hello, Bella Swan speaking."

"Bella!"

"Hi mom. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's fine, I was just calling to tell you that my plane came in safely and Phil picked me up. I emailed you about five times, but you didn't reply."

"Sorry mom, I haven't been home."

"You've been with Edward haven't you!"

"Not the whole time mom. I was shopping with Alice yesterday. We were buying school clothes."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

"Edward's teaching me to play piano."

"That's good Bella! You need to play an instrument!"

"Yeah, my lessons started last night."

"That's good."

We talked for a little while longer until neither of us had anything left to say.

Before we hung up I told her that I wouldn't be home for the next few days because of the camping trip.

"You, camping! Bella! You're sure changing a lot for that boy."

"It's not your normal camping, we're going to be hunting too."

"Hunting! But…"

"Mom, I'm a vampire, I have to eat something."

"Oh, right. Well, you have fun."

"I will"

We hung up.

It wasn't that I needed one, it was just that I was stressed, and showers always help.

The water felt unusually warm against my skin.

I'd have to make it colder next time.

I got out and rubbed my eyes, they itched, as usual now.

I was afraid to take out the contacts for fear that someone might see the color of my eyes right now.

I would take them out for the hunting trip though.

I put on a clean pair of clothes and walked into my room.

It wasn't empty.

"BOO!" Alice jumped at me.

I rolled my eyes. Tapping my head, "I heard you."

"Oh yeah. Dang."

"So, what do I pack?"

Alice smiled.

It took us less than an hour to pack my bag.

Even though we were going to Alaska, Alice told me that the cold wouldn't affect me that much. I would be able to go in my warmest Forks clothes and be fine.

I asked her why she had packed a week's worth of clothes.

Her reply was that the last time I had hunted, I had gotten only deer. This time, I would probably fight at least one bear. Experienced hunters didn't make a mess. She reminded me that this would only be my second hunt and it might be a little messy for me.

I nodded. What else was I supposed to do?

"What do you want to do now? It's only 10:00." She asked.

"Um…"

"Well, let's take your bags home first, then we can decide."

Before I could protest, she had lifted my bag and had run out of the house.

I followed right behind her.

"You know, I could have carried it." I said as we walked in the front door.

"I enjoy doing things for you! It's not like Rosalie will let me pamper her."

The thought of Rosalie letting Alice pamper her was comical.

I heard the piano, it was my lullaby.

One day, I will be able to play that.

That didn't take long. I expected it to be longer.

Not with Alice packing.

HEY! Edward, where do you want me to put Bella's bag? Is your room okay?

"Sure."

She sprinted up the stairs.

He finished playing.

Come up to my room, we can listen to Debussy, or maybe Linkin Park.

Linkin Park would be fine. I've got "With You" stuck in my head.

Fine by me, I like that song anyway.

We ended up listening to all of Hybrid Theory as well as Meteora. It was barely noon when both of them were over.

Edward went over to a shelf full of sheet music. He scanned over it for a minute and then pulled a stack down.

What is that?

Sheet music for Linkin Park. It took me two whole nights to get all of these down.

You wrote out the music for Linkin Park!

I was bored.

I stared in wonder at the stack of music.

Care to try them?

But I can only play "Twinkle, Twinkle…"

Sometimes playing something you know very well can be easy.

All right, I'll give it a try.

I started out with In the End, because I liked the intro.

I found it surprisingly easy.

Very good! Now try Crawling…

I went through Crawling, One Step Closer, Pushing Me Away, Runaway, Points of Authority, Don't Stay, Somewhere I Belong, By Myself, and Papercut.

I was working my way through Breaking the Habit when Rosalie's voice floated down the stairs.

"Enough Linkin Park! Edward! Can't you switch to Debussy for a while?"

"That's not me Rose, it's Bella."

Rosalie came pounding down the stairs.

"What did you call me?"

"Rose. And like I said, that wasn't me, it was Bella."

"That doesn't make sense, last night it took her an hour just to figure out "Twinkle, Twinkle"…and now she can play Linkin Park?"

I could tell she was a little shocked.

"Sometimes, playing what you know already can be the best way to learn."

"Whatever, just don't call me Rose."

Does she not like being called that?

She hates it, and that's exactly why I do it.

I smiled. Then continued playing Breaking the Habit.

Edward slipped his hand around my waist and kissed the top of my head.

"You're progressing quite nicely. When we get back from the trip, we can work on Debussy."

I smiled once again and continued playing.

A/N2: Well, there you have it. R&R please!