Edward's second attempt at an apology came as a Starbucks gift card taped to Bella's locker with another "I'm sorry" note.

The day before, Bella had failed at trying to have a good day. She was quiet at dinner, which meant that there was no conversation. Charlie wasn't the talker in the duo. She couldn't

concentrate on her book, and she didn't have any homework left to distract her. Angela was busy helping her father with some Church thing, so Bella resorted to watching reruns of friends and glaring at the tv screen. As the hours dragged by, she stressed herself out even more about detention and Edward Cullen, the whole damn situation, which resulted in her tossing and turning all night. She fell into a restless slumber some time after midnight. She had no desire to get out of bed when her alarm went off in the morning, so she remained under the covers til the last possible minute until she considered herself late, they were out of milk so she couldn't have cereal and therefore breakfast, and had to drink her coffee black, which she despised, and when she got to school, the first thing she saw was Angela and Ben talking at Angela's locker again.

So to say that Bella Swan was not in a good mood would've been an understatement.

The stupid giftcard was only the cherry on top. She loved starbucks. She ripped it off of her locker with a scowl.

"Morning, Scrooge." She heard Angela's cheerful voice behind her. Bella turned to face her smiling best friend. "Someone looks a little grumpy today. Also, what was that on your locker?"

Instead of replying, Bella held up the gift card. Angela's eyes widened a little. "From?"

"Who do you think?" Bella asked miserably. Angela raised her eyebrows in recognition. "He also left me a note on my truck yesterday after detention saying that he was sorry and he wanted to make it up to me."

"Oh, that's thoughtful of him." Angela remarked, eyeing the present in Bella's hand.

"I ripped it up. I don't need any apologies or gifts." Bella stated. "As a matter of fact, you can have this."

"Are you sure? Doesn't matter, I'll take it. I love starbs." Angela went on as they walked to English, Bella's first class of the day. "How was detention, by the way?"

"It was fine. It was just me and Banner. We didn't talk. I just finished my homework. Honestly, it wasn't terrible. I'm more worried about today."

"I would be too, I guess. But he is trying to make it up to you. You obviously don't have to forgive him, but you can at least acknowledge that he's trying. It might not be as bad as you're making it out to be."

Angela was somewhat right. Bella had felt a tad bit touched when she first spotted the note and gift card, but her sullen mood and Edward's betrayal had nipped that right in the bud. She didn't have to forgive him, as Angela had said, and she was not going to, no matter how sorry he was.

Just then, the energy of the hallway changed, and everyone whipped around to see why.

Speak of the devil, Bella thought, as she caught sight of the traitor strolling towards her as if he'd just returned from a six month vacation. Wearing his football jacket, white converse and a soft smirk, he looked like the devil in disguise. His hair was messier than usual, as if he'd been running his hand through it quite frequently. He was being high fived, congratulated, rewarded by attention for his bravery and badassery. He looked slightly uncomfortable with the praise, but still mostly at ease, completely in his element.

Bella hated him and his stupid face and his stupid smirk.

Her scowl didn't leave her face as he neared her and her companion, ditching his entourage of admirers. He slowed down and his gaze became cautionary, afraid. Bella could feel Angela buzz with anticipation next to her. Bella didn't allow her own to show.

"Hey, Bella." He greeted her. Bella didn't move a single muscle. He cleared his throat, and shifted his gaze to her best friend, smiling instantly. "Hey, Angela."

"Hi, Edward." Angela beamed, entirely charmed. Traitor.

"I- uh, I wanted to see if you got my note." Edward asked nervously, running one hand through his hair. Bella just stared, unreplying.

"She did. That was very sweet of you." Angela jumped in, answering for her. "Thanks, by the way." Bella turned her head and attempted to vaporize her so called best friend with her glare. Angela kept her eyes firmly on Lucifer, unfazed.

Edward took an awkward moment to respond. "Um, you're welcome, I guess," He addressed them both. "Well, I'm gonna head to class. See you in there, Bella."

He hunched his shoulders in defeat and walked into the room, taking his fanclub with him. Both girls stood there silently for a second staring after him. When a moment passed, Bella exploded.

"What hell is wrong with you?" She swatted Angela's shoulder. Angela put her hands up in defence.

"Hey, just because your heart is made of ice and kryptonite doesn't mean mine is too! Did you look at his face? He was being so sweet and thoughtful and you were just shutting him down. I couldn't take it." Angela was terrible at hating people.

"That's what he does, Ang! He pretends to be all sweet and charming and then he lures you in, only to stab you in the back. You can't just fall for it like that."

"But he's so cute," Angela gushed like she was 13 again, "With his puppy eyes. I just wanna pinch his cheeks and give him a hug. And then maybe make out with him."

"You have an almost boyfriend!" Bella cried out, extensively annoyed.

"I know, I know. And I really like Ben, you know I do. But I'm not blind. I'm allowed to say if a boy is objectively hot or not. Which Edward Cullen is. And I can say thirsty things as long as I'm loyal. Which I am."

The bell rang through the building, signalling the start of the first class of the day. Bella, relieved to end this absurd conversation, said a hasty goodbye and walked into English, ready for a miserable day ahead. She tried not to make eye contact with Edward as she walked to her spot. She could feel his eyes boring a hole in her back but she refused to turn around and look. Instead, she focused her attention towards Mr Banner, who had gotten up from his desk and had made his way to the front white board.

"Good morning class. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Today we're going to aim to finish all of Macbeth. If we could all take our copies out and start from Act 4, scene 2…"

When the bell indicating the lunch hour rang through, Bella and Angela were just finishing up in the library. For their third period spare today, they had been planning for council. Potential dates for the dance, fundraising ideas, cool themes. It would be around Christmas time, and they decided that they should have it after finals and before break. Bella's braining for bursting with to do lists, ideas, committee tasks. For the first time that day, she'd felt anything other than misery.

They entered the cafeteria with their backpacks and headed to their usual table. Nothing seemed out of place. An ordinary Wednesday. There might have been a little bit more commotion around a particular table, but that was to be expected. Edward was there with his groupies, and he was still riding the high of attention. James was nowhere to be found. Bella tried not to look at him as they sat down and took out their lunches. Bella had a PB&J that she'd slapped together hurriedly. Not her best creation ever, but it would suffice.

"So you and Ben seem like you're getting closer," She remarked, taking her first bite of her mediocre lunch while Angela dug into her salad.

"Yeah he walked me home yesterday and said hi to me in the morning. I think he wants to get to know me before he makes any kind of moves. And I think he's a little scared. Which, I mean, I don't think he should be."

"It makes sense. He's shy, and I don't think he's ever had a girlfriend. I think it's sweet that he's taking his time." Angela was just about to reply when Eric, Tyler and Ben walked to their table, effectively ending their conversation. It didn't go unnoticed by Bella when Ben stood by closer to Angela and said hello. Angela was smiling up at him, Ben was shuffling his feet. It was all quite cute. Tyler and Eric greeted them both.

"Hey girls, what's good?" said Eric.

"Just eating. You guys don't want to sit?" Bella asked.

"Nah, we're going to gym. The senior basketball team tryouts are today. Anyway, we were thinking of going to the mall after school to catch the new Marvel movie. We wanted to see if you guys wanted to come."

Bella knew Angela hadn't seen any of them and hadn't tried to watch them either. Jake had forced Bella to watch some, and as it turned out, she really enjoyed them. Bella also knew that Angela was never going to give up an opportunity to hang out with Ben. Bella would've readily agreed, was almost about to agree, when she suddenly realized she actually wasn't able to go after school. She internally cursed Edward Cullen a millionth time.

Angela, of course, was not thinking very hard. "Yeah absolutely, we'd love to go. Right, Bella?"

Bella widened her eyes at her, trying to silently communicate, that no, as a matter of fact they couldn't. When Angela continued to look at her questioningly, Bella sighed, accepting defeat. "I actually can't today guys. I have stuff to do after school."

"What stuff?" Tyler asked, with too much curiousity. Angela snorted before Bella could come up with a lie, "Ms Perfect Student here has found herself in-"

"A volunteer opportunity at the police station!" Bella cut her off deliberately with too much vigor, kicking Angela forcefully under the table. Angela winced, but she finally understood what was going on. She nodded aggressively. "Yes, with her dad. Charlie. Very educational and cool. She'll learn all about being a policeman. Or woman."

The boys looked at them weird, a little confused. "Tinker, you tryna be a cop?" Eric asked incredulously.

"No, no, nothing like that," Bella shook her head, "No, my dad just needs a little bit of a helping hand. Either way, I'm busy. How about the weekend though? We could saturday?"

Ben was the one who responded first. "Yeah, sure. I'm free." They all agreed and set a time, and were on their way. Bella sighed in relief, and glared at Angela.

"Angela, I don't want anyone to know. It's embarrassing enough as it is. Imagine having to explain to them how or why. It would be a shitshow, and I don't trust them to keep their mouths shut."

"Fine, suit yourself. And I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. It's just so funny. Who would have thought that you would-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, staring over Bella's shoulder. Puzzled, Bella turned around. Behind her, with a shy smile on his pretty- no, stupid- face was Edward.

"Uh, hey, Bella." He said with a little bit more confidence. Bella was not impressed. Behind him, she could make out the curious stares of his posse.

"What do you want, Edward?" Bella asked exasperatedly, sick of his apologetic eyes. She liked staying mad at him, wanted to stay mad, but he was not making it easy.

"I was wondering that since you didn't like the gift card very much, if I could buy you lunch? That sandwich doesn't look very appetizing." He was absolutely infuriating. Bella had to remind herself of his wrongdoings, otherwise, she was halfway close to caving.

"I like my sandwich just fine, thank you very much." Bella snarked back. Edward didn't drop his smile, expecting the aggravation this time.

"I understand, but I would still really appreciate it if you allowed me to buy you something you'll enjoy more. You've told me before how much you liked the bagels or wraps here. Would you like one today? Please?"

Bella was shocked at his nerve. And how much he remembered about her. She distinctly remembered telling him one day in grade 9 that the way to her heart was through food and how much she enjoyed anything carbs and 'not good for you'.

I hate you, she thought in her head, and you're stupid memory and thoughtfulness.

She was going to say no.

"You can take your stupid bage-"

"She'll have one actually. A whole wheat bagel BLT with no tomatoes and extra cheese. Right, Bella?" Angela interrupted casually, given Bella a careful look. That order seemed familiar. Bella laughed internally, amused at her friend's antics.

Cheese also cost extra.

Edward was slightly confused. Why wouldn't Bella just ask for it herself, and before Angela interrupted, that didn't quite seem like that's where Bella was going with her sentence. His eyes shifted back to hers for reassurance.

She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head towards Angela's direction, the universal sign of 'you heard her'. Edward took this as confirmation, but he didn't miss the glint of mischief in both of the girls' eyes. Regardless, he walked across the cafeteria to the canteen and ordered Bella's bagel, paying for it with his debit. He watched as the girls faced each other and smiled giddily while he waited.

Maybe he had finally won her over?

After his name was called, he received his lunch and walked back to their table, a warm bagel in his hand. Bella and Angela both were watching him expectantly.

"There you go. A warm BLT bagel, no tomatoes and extra cheese, just as you'd requested." He offered it to Bella with a smile. Surprisingly, Bella was trying to fight a smile herself, but made no move to accept his offering.

Instead, Angela grabbed it out of his hand. "I'll take that. Thank you so much, Edward. You really shouldn't have."

She unwrapped the bagel and took a single, large bite. Bella couldn't hold it in anymore, and burst out into the cutest giggle and shrugged her shoulders at him.

It dawned on him that Edward had just been played by the two girls. He could've been slightly peeved, but he found that he didn't really mind. Bella's laugh and reaction made his embarrassment worth it.

The girls shook with quiet laughter as they gathered their things and walked away from a frozen Edward, leaving him to face his entourage and their incredulity and confusion all alone.

Hello, again!

I've decided that I'm not going to have schedule. I'm too impatient and unpredictable for that. I imagine this story being very long, and a chapter a week will mean that it's going to take forever. I think I'm going to just keep posting as I write it. This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I thought i'd split it into 2. I like the instant feedback too. It keeps me going. And i can't have long chapters because of the same reason. I need that dopamine fix.

I'm going to start doing a thing where I recommend something every upload. Anything. I've been reading, watching and listening to a lot during this quarantine, and I'm constantly looking for more recommendations, and considering you're reading my story and on this website, I would assume we have similar tastes.

In return, recommend anything you liked. i like romance and comedy with most things, as well as some mystery.

I started reading 'A Discovery of Witches' last night, and I love it. I'm already almost 200 pages in. It's about witches, vampires and daemons, so ya know, right up all of our allies. It's very intelligently written, super mysterious, and Matthew Clairmont is to dieeeee for.

Leave me a recommendation of something you've been enjoying.

Once again, thank you for reviewing, following and favouriting. Really appreciate the kind words and welcome backs. lovely to be back.

Go to the reviews to recommend and read other peoples recommendations. I don't want to spend quarantine consuming garbage. I like quality shit. I'm sure you do too. Let's help each other out.