The rest of the morning went by in a normal fashion, except when Alice was in my fourth hour, and she chatted quite cheerfully to me. Otherwise, I couldn't get Edward out of my head. When my trigonometry teacher called on me in class, I blanked and didn't even remember what the question was. I was thinking about that breathtaking crooked smile on Edward's face... No! Stop it, Bella! I can't like him…he'd never be interested in a girl like me. I kept trying to shout this to myself, but the words seemed to have no affect on the way I reacted when I was around him. As I strolled off to lunch, I noticed Emmett was talking to that Blonde girl from this morning. He looked really nervous, so I decided to find Jasper so we wouldn't be alone to eat. We were shyer than Emmett, and didn't like to invite ourselves into other people's lives. Aw! I found Jasper with a tray of food sitting by himself at a small table. I went to put my stuff down so I could get food and sit with him, and said, "Hey Jazz. Do you mind if I join u? Or are you waiting for someone?" I didn't want to intrude if he already made some friends to sit with.

"No! Go ahead. I haven't really met anyone yet- Thanks for sitting with me. I'd rather not be alone."

"What are big sisters for?" He smiled. I liked it when he was happy. As I went through the line and bought my food, I thought about how Jasper was so good at influencing people, but yet he was so quiet. It just didn't make sense. He was a sweet guy, but he never really opened up to anyone besides Emmett and me. I sat down in the seat next to his and began eating my food.

"Uh…Bella?" Oh no. That all too familiar voice made my head jerk toward the source. The way he said my name!

"Yes, Edward?"

"Can…Well, can I join you for lunch?" I looked at Jasper and he nodded vigorously, eager to make friends. I nodded and smiled.



"Edward, this is my brother, Jasper. Jasper, this is Edward."

"Nice to meet you, Jasper." He held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Edward," he said as he finished off the handshake.

"Oh Edward!! Who are your friends?" Even though I had only known her half a day, I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Hey, Alice. This is my brother, Jasper. I'm Bella, remember?"

"Of course I remember, Bella! Hi Jasper!"

"Hello." He said shyly, but quite calm. Something strange seemed to come over him when he met Alice. Probably just her overexcitement about everything.

"Hey Bells! Hey Jazz! Oh- you actually made friends? Wow, I'm surprised. Usually you guys don't talk to anyone. Well, not at lunch anyways. You always sat with me."

"Shut up, Em." I was blushing a deep crimson by this point. As I said earlier, I didn't have much luck in making friends, and I knew he was right.

"And I came to sit by Jasper to keep him company when these two decided to join us. And yes, I have friends. What about Jessica and Mike?"

"You call them friends? I highly doubt that, Bella." Edward looked confused. I chuckled.

"Sorry! This is my older brother, Emmett. Em, this is Edward and Alice," I gestured towards them with my hand as I spoke.

"Oh! You're Rosalie's siblings!" I could tell he was talking about the magnificent blonde girl from this morning when I saw that same curious gleam in his eyes. I looked down at the table, unable to look into 

Emmett's eyes any longer. They were filled with so much passion. I had never seen eyes like that before. Alice broke my concentration when she said, "Hey, Bella? Remember how we said we should hang out?" It was mostly her who had said this, but I wanted to spend time with her. I could easily be friends with her. She talked so much, it was effortless for me to make conversation.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well…why don't we see a movie tonight? All of us can go!" She wanted to hang out with me? I felt like I was in some alternate universe where Bella Swan was allowed to have fun with people other than her family members.

"Sure, sounds like fun! Do you want to come over to my house, or do you want to go to Port Angeles and see a movie?"

"Let's go out. I want to see The Dark Knight." Jasper, Emmett, and Edward all shouted "Yeah! Me too!" There were all very excited. I wasn't much of a batman fan, but I did enjoy Batman Begins, so maybe this movie would be good, too. Plus, I might get to sit next to Edward! How amazing would that be? "Yeah! Sounds like fun." Emmett and Jasper stared at me doubtfully. I was always a horrible liar. I shrugged and smiled at them when Edward asked, "Bella, What is your next class?" Would I ever get used to that musically velvet voice? I highly doubted it. He probably wouldn't want to be around me much anyways.

"Uhh…Biology," I replied as I checked my schedule. He had a bright look in his eyes.
"Me too!" He seemed really excited. I had never known anyone to be that happy to have a class with me before. I wasn't anything special. I was a plain Jane. I could never measure up to anyone close to him. I was happy, though, for his excitement. Secretly, I was too. A whole hour with Edward and me? I could only hope we would be lab partners.



"Hey li'l sis. I'm proud of you. Maybe you'll actually meet a boy you want to date this year." I flushed so deep, I couldn't feel my face from the heat. I put my head down on the table before my almost untouched food and said, "Thanks, Emmett." I was bitingly sarcastic.

"Wow, Bella, you're like a tomato!" Jasper didn't realize how embarrassing this situation was for me. The problem was, Emmett was right. I had met a boy that I wanted to go out with, and I wanted to make him happy. And he was sitting at this table. I could kill Emmett for that. No doubt he had caught on to how much I already liked Edward. An insanely ridiculous amount for only knowing him a half a day. I could not believe Emmett would say that! I had just realized that I only took about two bites of my food. I didn't really feel hungry, but I could feel the dizziness come from not eating in so long. My body couldn't handle not having food for long periods of time. Every few hours, I needed something to eat. Otherwise, I could fall over. I usually managed just fine, but today my blood all seemed to gathering to one place: My head.

"Do you want to come to class with me, Bella?" Ah. Edward's musically perfect voice rang in my ears as I looked up, realizing my vision was distorted from lack of nutrients and all the blood still in my face. I probably looked sunburned to the extreme. He still looked like a Greek God with my weakened eyes. I merely nodded, unable to find my voice. I stood up, and noticed everyone else had already left our table, except for Jasper. He was cutting up his sandwich in half to take it to class with him when he cut his finger. Jasper gave me a look of horror as the blood began to ooze out of the wound. I smelled the horrible scent of rust and salt, and I began to feel queasy. Lucky I barely ate anything. That would have been awful to throw up in front of Edward. I immediately began to fall to the ground, but I held myself up on the table. "Jasper. Please." I rasped at my little brother. "Bella, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" "It's okay. Please!" He understood what I meant almost right away, and he covered up the blood and walked away quickly, leaving his sandwich. I started walking away, but I collapsed, and I still didn't feel 

very well. I expected to come face to face with the ground, my arms too weak to stop my fall, but I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist, holding me up. I turned and saw Edward looking worriedly at me. The students still lingering in the cafeteria had turned most of their attention to us. Great. Just what I needed; more attention. My face turned red again, and Edward helped me back up on my feet. "You shouldn't get so embarrassed. There's nothing for you to be ashamed of."

"Yeah I know… Thank…you…" I couldn't get anymore out, as my stomach had just lurched in an uncomfortable way. I wasn't going to puke, but I sat back down at the lunch table and rested my head in my hands. I started feeling dizzy again; no doubt we would be late to class.

"Edward, go ahead. I'll catch up when I can." I would be fine in a few minutes. I looked at him, and he almost looked angry.

"Bella, I am not leaving you like this. Come on. If we are late, I'll explain your reaction to Jasper's blood for you…" He chuckled softly, but I didn't have the strength to say anything else. He gave me his arm and I leaned on it, needing the support to walk. As soon as our skin touched, though, I felt an odd spark of electricity flow into my body. He gave me the same stunned look as I gave him, and I guessed he felt it, too. That gave me a strong wave of hope that maybe he liked me, too. I quickly tried to squash it, but it was hard, when I was holding onto him.

"Thank you. I'm not used to people taking care of me. I'm sorry I collapsed and that you have to support me. I'm so weak when it comes to blood…" I grimaced, remembering the smell, and then blocking it out so I wouldn't become nauseated again. He looked troubled, like he was trying to figure something out, and then let it go. He probably thought I was a total idiot, not being able to handle a little bit of blood. I was so frustrated with myself. Eventually, my nausea went away and we reached the classroom. Luckily, Mr. Banner was running late today. There was one empty lab table left in the center of the room, for Edward and me. I relaxed and let go of his arm. I stumbled on my way to the 

table, but I made it on my own. Edward looked quite peaceful as I let him go and sat down next to him. That made sense. With a stab of pain, I realized that he was probably relieved that I wasn't holding onto him anymore. We took our seats, and my heart leaped when I sat down. I tried so hard to tell myself that I couldn't like him, but my heart just wouldn't listen to me. He was way out of my league. He would never want a girl like me. And that blonde, Rosalie, was his sister! There was no way he could ever want me. I could barely pay attention in class with Edward sitting next to me. When I got up at the end of class, I tripped on my chair while getting my backpack somehow. I sighed, waiting for my outstretched arms to hit the ground. Unexpectedly, I stopped just before I made impact, and when I turned and saw Edward holding me again, my face turned pink. He helped me up, and I said, "I'm sorry I'm such a klutz. But thank you for catching me."

"Bella…there is nothing you need to apologize for. I don't mind catching you." He blushed, and turned away. Now way. I had made him blush? No, of course not. I was just imagining things. I had to stop getting my hopes up. He'd never like me that way. He was way too good for me, in any case.

"So…where's your next class?"

"Gym," I groaned. I did not do well in gym. I always fell over or knocked someone else, or myself out. I was dangerous in gym.

"Hm. That's disappointing. Well, I guess I'll see you after school?" Was he inviting me?

"Maybe, hopefully." I didn't know if I would be able to find him. "Bye, Edward."

I didn't want to walk away but it seemed I had no choice. I sighed, stalking off towards the gym. This is when I accidentally bumped right into Mike Newton.

"Hey! Watch where you're go-" He looked at me, and stopped abruptly. His voice had been irritatingly angry. He was standing in the middle of the doorway for crying out loud.



"Sorry, Mike. I didn't mean to," I snapped, my voice cold with ice.

"Hey! I didn't know it was you!" I was fuming by this point.

"Oh, so you would be rude to anyone else who just happened to walk into you when you are standing in front of the doorway? Goodness you are so stupid, Mike." I was too frustrated to care about what I said.

"Bella! I didn't mean it like that!" Ugh. What an imbecile. How did he mean it then? He'd been trying to get with me since middle school. You'd think a guy could take a hint…or a trillion. I guess not.

"Whatever." He was so irritating. I fumed to the locker room, where we chose our lockers. I chose one toward the back of the room, where less people would see me change. We went back to the gym, not having to dress out today, thank Heaven. They didn't make us do anything but listen to the information and safety rules of the class. I should not be allowed in this class if they were following safety rules. That would be asking for too much, though. And then I saw her. Rosalie, the perfect blonde, talking animatedly with a boy on the other side of the room. I hid my face, hoping she wouldn't recognize me if Emmett had introduced me at some point throughout the day. I felt a stab of despair that I couldn't look like that for Edward. What? Why would I think that? I only knew him for a day! What was wrong with me? I knew I liked him, but I also knew that I couldn't. I tried with all of my might not too, to save myself disappointment when I found out he didn't like me back later. It didn't work, however, as I walked toward the parking lot to Emmett's Jeep. We switched off driving each day to save gas. My awesome red truck was still at home. Then I heard a voice that I had dreaded since my freshman year of high school.

"Bella? Oh my goodness! You have to tell me all about Edward! He's gorgeous, you know? I wonder if he'll ask me out?" Jessical Stanley. Great, just what I needed right now.