"Wake up, sleeping beauty!" Emmett shouted, pounding on Bella's bedroom door.

Bella pulled the blanket over her face. She loved Emmett but maybe a little less so at 7:30 am on Monday morning.

"Wake up and get your lazy butt out of bed!" Emmett shouted. "We're leaving in twenty minutes!"

There was no need for shouting. She'd been awake since 3 am wondering what she'd done to deserve such a garbage fire of a life.

"Don't worry about breakfast!" Emmett shouted. "I already ate yours!"

Good. She'd probably throw up if she tried to eat anything.

"Come on," Emmett pulled on the doorknob. "Wake up!"

Bella wasn't worried about him getting in. She'd shoved her desk in front of the door after waking up to the unpleasant surprise of Edward lurking in the shadows.

"If you're not in the car in twenty minutes we're leaving without you!" Emmett exclaimed.

Bella didn't need a mirror to know all that worrying left her looking like death warmed over. She wondered if Carlilse would believe she caught whatever Edward had and let her take a sick day.

"Don't worry, Bella," Edward said. "We won't really leave without you!"

Bella bolted upright. As she had a hundred times before, she got tangled in the blankets and tumbled out of bed. One new bruise and enough curse words to make a sailor blush later, she shoved her desk aside and opened the door.

"You're going to school?" Bella hissed at Edward.

She'd hoped his midnight prowling would result in him spending the day in bed.

"Of course I am," Edward said, wrinkling his brow. "Did you really think I'd let you out of my sight after yesterday?"

"Yes."

Had he forgotten the conversation they'd had last night? Come anywhere near her and he'd have bigger problems to deal with than werewolves.

"Last call for pancakes!" Carlisle called from the kitchen. "Put in your orders now or go hungry!"

Emmett's eyes lit up. "I want chocolate chip!"

After Emmett charged downstairs for his third helping of breakfast, Bella lowered her voice to a whisper."What about saving Forks and proving your identity?"

She didn't care how he spent his time as long as it wasn't creeping on her.

"Jasper told me I can do that at school," Edward said. "I can do my research and protect you at the same time."

Bella's blood pressure started to rise. Had Edward not listened to a single word she said last night?

"You talked to Jasper?" she snapped. "I told you to leave him out of this!"

She'd strangle Edward with her bare hands if he undid Jasper's hard-earned progress.

"I know," Edward said. "All I asked was if he had any books on the history of Forks. He didn't, but he said the school library does."

Knowing it could have been far worse had he asked Rose or Alice, Bella took a deep breath and tried to let her anger go. Jasper probably didn't think anything of Edward's questions. He'd done the same on his first day at Forks High.

"You really don't need to go to school today if you're not feeling well," Bella said. "'I'd be happy to bring the books home for you."

She'd be happy to bring him anything if he agreed to stay away from her and the building of unsuspecting teenagers.

"I'll be fine," Edward said. "It's you I'm worried about."

"Why?"

She went to school every day and came out unscathed as long as she sat out of gym class.

Edward crossed his arms. "Because you seem to lack self-preservation skills."

Bella hadn't even made it out of bed that morning without hurting herself but that didn't mean she lacked self-preservation instincts. Unlike Edward, she'd never intentionally put herself in danger.

"Says the one who jumped off a twenty-foot wall," Bella retorted.

"That's different," Edward said.

"How?"

"I did that because I thought my mother was in danger. You entered werewolf-infested woods for no other reason than to get my attention."

How self-centered could he be? She'd gone to La Push to get away from him!

"You were upset that I wasn't paying enough attention to you so you went to La Push so that I'd have to rescue you," Edward continued. "While I'm not angry at you, I do wish you'd spoken to me instead of running off. You could have easily been killed if Emmett and I hadn't made it there in time."

Again with the stupid werewolves. She was fine. She didn't need a knight in shining armor to save her.

"That's ridiculous!" Bella snapped.

This was real life, not some cheesy fairytale rom-com. She'd never put her life at risk to get a guy's attention.

"What's ridiculous is that you're in denial about what's going on!" Edward said, throwing his hands up. "You saw me come back to life, yet you refuse to accept that there's more to life than what meets the eye!"

You're the one who's in denial!" Bella shouted, completely giving up on being quiet. "You choose to cling to fairytales instead of accepting that life doesn't guarantee a happy ending!"

"Everything okay up here," Alice asked.

Bella gasped. She hadn't heard Alice come up the stairs. She hoped Alice hadn't overheard too much.

"Everything is fine, Alice," Edward said. "Bella and I were just talking."

"You'll have to continue 'talking' on the road. It's time to leave for school."

"Of course," Edward said. "Wouldn't want to be late for my first day of school."

"Would you mind driving yourself?" Alice asked Bella. "It would be a tight squeeze in Emmett's SUV with all of us."

"I would love to," Bella said, giving Edward a pointed look, "but someone made me leave my truck in La Push."

"What are you talking about?" Alice asked. "Your truck is parked outside."

Bella ran outside. Just as Alice said, her truck was parked in the driveway. Even more surprising, someone had given it a wash and buffed out the dent in the hood. She immediately thought of Emmett. While his pranks could be annoying at times, he was always good about cleaning up any resulting messes. He must have gotten up early to rescue her prized possession.

Realizing she'd soon be late for school, Bella slid into the driver's seat. She was about to pull out of the driveway when she noticed the soup container sitting in the passenger seat. Inside was a square of notebook paper.

Isabella,

Stay away from La Push.

Jacob

The note was so cold and formal. Had it not been in his handwriting, Bella would have never believed Jake was the one who wrote it. Maybe Sam was looking over his shoulder while he wrote. Maybe he wrote it of his own volition. Now that she had her truck back, she could drive to La Push and confront him werewolves be damned.

"Thank you for waiting for me," Edward said. "Alice said I couldn't go to school looking like an 80's reject."

Bella crinkled up the note and shoved it in her pocket. Someone really needed to put a bell on Edward.

"What do you think?" Edward asked, staring intently at Bella. "Do you like it?"

Edward's hair was cut to mid-ear length and gelled in the front.

"Do you like it," Edward repeated when Bella didn't respond. "Alice said you would."

Bella wasn't sure. There was nothing outlandish about his appearance. It was the same haircut many of her male classmates favored. However, something about it didn't seem to suit Edward.

"Do you?" Bella asked. "That's what matters."

"Not really." Edward touched his hair and frowned. "I don't feel like me anymore."

Bella failed to keep back tears as she gathered up the chunks of brown hair from the kitchen floor.

"Stop that whimpering." Phil snapped. "This is your own fault. Dirty girls don't get to have long hair."

Then how come Mary and Maya didn't get their hair cut? They had lice too.

Phil left the house allowing Bella the freedom to cry as she placed her hair in the trash with the burned remains of breakfast.

Bella heard the garage door open. Fearing Phil had come back, she hid under the kitchen table with her swollen eyes squeezed shut. She flinched when someone touched her arm.

"Bella, sweetheart, are you okay?" Renee asked.

Bella touched the top of her head. "No. Phil cut my hair."

What little hair remained wasn't even long enough to wrap around her thumb.

"I don't look like me anymore," Bella whimpered. "The kids at school are going to tease me."

They'd probably call her Ben or Buzz.

Renee wrapped her arms around Bella. "I'm so sorry sweetheart. I should have been here to protect you."

Bella looked at Edward and nodded. "I think the gel is the problem."

Not thinking too much about it, she ran her fingers through Edward's hair until it looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.

Bella flipped down the passenger-side mirror to show Edward. "Better?"

Edward smiled. "Much."

Bella looked at the clock on the dashboard and frowned. It was 8:01 meaning they had less than twenty minutes to make it to school.

"So," Bella said. "You're sure you want to go through with this? High school is a unique form of torture."

"Yes," Edward said, nodding. "I'll do anything to keep you safe."

Not wanting to spend the next hour arguing, Bella bit back an angry response. "Fine, but I have a few conditions."

Edward smiled. "Name them."

"You'll have to act like a normal student. That means going to classes, eating gross cafeteria food, and being polite to the teachers."

Edward nodded.

"Second, you can't tell anyone about the Prince Edward stuff. Keep a low profile and don't talk to anyone unless you have to."

"Agreed. I wouldn't want to put any innocent children in danger."

But putting her and Emmett in danger was fine?

Bella cleared her throat. Edward would most likely have a problem with her final condition.

"There will be no more of this 'true love' stuff. That means no physical contact, staring, or calling me any pet names. What you did last night, showing up in my room, was creepy. I wouldn't have a repeat of anything like that at school."

"But!" Edward protested.
Bella didn't allow him to finish. "These are my conditions. If you can't follow them I'm not driving you to school."

The school was only a twenty-minute walk through the woods away but Edward didn't need to know that.

Edward looked like he was going to argue but reconsidered. "Fine. I promise I won't cause any trouble."

Bella wondered how long it would take him to break that promise.

Bella started the engine. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

"We're leaving now?" Edward offered her a tight smile. Don't you want to change first?"

Bella curled her fingers into a fist. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Up until fifteen minutes ago, Edward had a mullet. What gave him the authority to judge her school clothes?

"Well...Ummm.." Edward stuttered. "What you're wearing is fine...for at home. But you might want to pick something else for school."

Deciding to humor him, Bella looked in the mirror. She blushed when she realized what he was talking about. Minnie mouse pajamas probably weren't an ideal pick for school.