I looked into the mirror and saw a breath-taking vampire staring back at me. She had on a pair of dark wash jeans, a white, flowy blouse with a pair of tan heels about two inches high. Around her neck there was a gold necklace, and on her wrist there was a charm bracket that had a wooden dog and a silver heart. She wore no make up, truly not needing any. I took a deep breath and walked out of my room and headed downstairs to meet Edward.

Looking perfect as usual, he was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans, black sneakers, and a black v-neck t-shirt that hugged his chest, showing off his abs. "Ready?" he asked me, although we both knew that he was the one not ready. He held out his hand, which I grabbed to pull him closer to me, tilting my chin up for a quick kiss. "Rose and Emmett have decided to come with us," he told me. Edward had talked with Carlisle and Esme after school ended, telling them of my newfound need for "popularity," trying to get them to convince me to lay low. Although Carlisle was hesitant at first, Esme thought it was a good idea for us to have some fun, as long as we still kept our distance and kept up the human act.

"Whose car are we taking?" I asked, trying to create small talk. I loved Edward for doing this for me — I knew he would much rather be learning a new language, or studying some ancient field of medicine than be going to a trashy high school party.

I didn't want to go for popularity or anything, I just wanted to feel welcome. In every place that we went to, I could hear the whispers behind our backs. It didn't bother any of us, but still, I felt this need to be accepted in the way I was when I first transferred to Forks while I was human.

"We're taking my car," he replied quickly. God, I hated when he was unhappy — someone as beautiful as him should deserve to be happy all the time. So, I told myself that he would have fun once he got to the party, but I didn't believe myself for one second.

"Edward, I'm really sorry for doing this to you. I should have talked with you before saying that I would go. Actually, I should have talked to the entire family before I started even talking with Steven," I said, my eyes on the floor.

"Bella, it's okay. I see where you're coming from, I really do. But you have to see my side of the story, and how I'm thinking of the whole families protection. We all love it here, especially you, but none of us want to suddenly disappear because someone has started to suspect that we're anything other than human." As usual, he was the perfect boyfriend: understanding what I want, yet always having my best interest at heart. It was times like this that were the reasons I loved him.

We all got into Edward's car, Rosalie and Emmett in the back, trying to get as close as possible, while I was in the front, with a stupid gear in between Edward and I. We drove in silence, none of us knowing what to expect or how to act "normal," at a high school party, as we were hardly ever invited to socialize with our peers.

Emmett, Rose, Edward, and I walked up to the house nervously — it had been decades since we had done this. "Come on, Em. Let loose — let's have some fun tonight," I heard Rosalie say as soon as we got inside.

Edward's hand reached for mine. "Bella, I'm still not sure — " he began.

"— Well I am," I interrupted him. "Tonight is going to be fun, you can make some friends. And in case you didn't know what that a friend is, it's a person, who you don't want to kiss, or kill, but enjoy their company none the less... And I'm going to help you make some. See that girl?" I said, pointing at a short blonde wearing too much foundation. "Put her out of her misery, and talk to her for five minutes like a normal person, and we can leave... And I'll be listening."

"Alright," he said, accepting the challenge. "But that means you have to go talk to him." Edward pointed a very boastful young man. He wore no shirt, although I assume that he just gotten too drunk to care about clothing. Like all the arrogant teenage boys, he was holding a red solo cup, and was surrounded by a clump of girls in daisy dukes and crop tops with a hard of guys all staring at the girls' asses. I immediately hated him, and even though Edward couldn't read my mind, it was like he chose the person I would get along with the least, and he knew it.

I saw Edward walk over to the girl, who told him that her name was Sophie, and immediately regretted making him talk with her, the jealousy boiling inside me. I let go of my shield, wanting Edward to know what I was thinking, to know that I did not want him flirting around with me. But I then remembered that Edward had eyes only for me, and he was only talking to her because he was being forced. I momentarily hated myself for doubting Edward, knowing that he would never think that low of me as to flirt with someone else.

I walked over to the boy, pushing past three girls practically hanging off him, and stood beside him. "Hi," I said. "I'm Bella, the new girl."

"I know," he said. "Word gets around quickly when a pretty girl moves to Forks."

"Then you're probably talking about Rosalie" I said, blushing.

"The hot brunette who sass-ed Steven into the next century? Pretty sure Rosalie only hits one of those categories." he said as his eyes wandered up and down my body. His dark brown eyes with hazel highlights stopped once they reached mine, our eyes meeting for a split second.

I smiled at him. Wow, I smiled at him. I looked over at Edward, who was also smiling at Sophie, but I could tell it was his forced smile, the kind he used in public to keep up the human facade. But with this stereotypical stranger, I didn't need to pretend to laugh... strange.

"I have a boyfriend," I blurted out. Great, my impecable social skills that Hans been used in over a decade were coming out to play. Damn it, for being perfect, I really knew how to screw things up in a matter of minutes. Of course, that shouldn't even matter, I told myself, knowing that in a few years we would leave once again, and I would have to reread Wuthering Heights and relearn the battles of the Civil War. Something about his smile, about his warm eyes... STOP IT! I mentally yelled to myself, hating every ounce of fat in my body for even thinking about someone other than my soulmate. But something about this town, I corrected myself, just made me feel human — which comes along with the bad parts, like, say, nervousness and being a total idiot.

"You mean the guy talking to Slutty Sophie?" he asked. "He seems like he's enjoying himself." From anyone else's point of view, they would have seen a handsome young man and a pretty young woman very involved in a conversation in a dark corner, maybe even a little too close for comfort. They would have seen two people, possibility flirting with each other. But, with my vampire senses, and my Edward sense, I saw something totally different. I saw a girl who would keep her hand on his chest for a second too long. I saw the man breaking their eye contact at the right moment, while the girl continued to stare, making the situation slightly awkward. I saw how the boy look around the room whenever the girl would flash a smile.

"Trust me — he's not," I said, smiling to myself as I thought about how Edward must be feeling: bored out of his mind, probably. "By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm —"

"— Bella, there you are," I heard Steven say from behind me. "I have been trying to find you. I was beginning to think that you had bailed on me." He gave me a friendly hug, but I did not return the small act of affection, keeping my arms awkwardly by my side. "Wow, Bella. You're freezing."

"Oh, am I?" I said, trying to play things cool. "Um, the heat in our car wasn't on, I probably just need some time to warm up."

"Where's that boyfriend of yours... Edward?" he asked, attempting, but failing to sound nonchalant.

"He's over there — talking to that Sophie chic," I said without a hint of worry. I looked over to Edward and Sophie to see how things were going, even though it had only been a minute or so. She was all over him, laughing at everything he said and finding excuses here and there to get closer to him. However, every time she took a step forward, he took one backwards. I could tell that this was frustrating her, and just to rub it in her face, I decided I would walk over.

"It's really loud in here. Want to go some place quiet?" Steven asked me.

"I'm sorry, Steven. I would — but I gotta go steal Edward back, seeing as I have this feeling that Sophie could talk to him all night if Edward would let her," I told him. "You could come over if you want and get to know him a bit."

Steven followed me as I walked up to my boyfriend, giving him a quick kiss on the lips, but Edward turned it into something much more. I wasn't sure if he was doing this to prove to Sophie that he wasn't interested, or to show Steven that I was not available, but either way, I had no objections. After "coming up for air," which was completely unnecessary for us, Edward put his arm around my waist, pulling me as tight as possible to him. "Hi, I'm Bella!" I said, introducing myself to Sophie.

She decided to ignore me, and then turned to Edward. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "Sophie," Edward shouted. "Bella just said hello. I don't think you could hear her since the music is so loud."

Sophie's eyes turned cold for a second, but then she smiled at Edward. "I'm sorry, it is really loud." She turned to face me, her smile quickly falling off her face. "Nice to meet you," she said not sounding one bit interested. "I saw you talking to that guy a few minutes ago... I'm going to be nice and give you a small social tip — unless you want the reputation as that girl, I'd steal clear from him."

"Thanks, but I only talked to him for a bet," I told her, bringing out my bitchy side. "In fact, it was the same bet that made Edward talk to you... You see, for me, Edward picked a stereotypical jock without a filter. And for him, I picked the desperate school slut. " I glared at Sophie, looking at her right in the eye. "We're leaving, so let me give you a little hint: this will be the last time my boyfriend ever talks to you, so cherish this moment." I could see Edward was nervous that I was bringing too much attention to myself, but I couldn't control my anger.

I stormed out of the party, dragging Edward along with me, although I was sure that he was as happy to leave as I was. Deciding to run home, we left the car for Rosalie and Emmett.

"Edward, I'm really sorry that I made you go — it wasn't what I expected," I told him as we arrived at our cottage. I opened the door, and ran at vampire speed to my walk in closet, desperate to take off my clothes and get in a pair of sweat pants and a tank top.

"So I'm guessing that the old Bella is back? You know, the one who I had to force to go to her own junior prom? Where you wore a pair of old converse sneakers?" Edward said, sounding a bit excited. I knew that he loved me as a vampire with my newfound sense of confidence, but I at the same time, I could tell he missed the human Bella who wanted to wear sneakers to her wedding.

"She's making a come back." I laughed, as I remember human me. Human Bella would have been disgusted with me right now. Human Bella would have had to be literally dragged to the party, and she probably would have worn an old base ball jersey. But now, there I was, in tight fitting jeans with 2 inch heels, forcing Edward to go to a party with me just for the sake of going. "It may not be too successful, though."

"Just wondering, were you listening to Sophie's thoughts tonight?" I asked, and I was in fact very interested. I prepared myself for the worst, to hear how she was planning to steal Edward from me, how she thought that she was ten times prettier than me, and that how she could totally get Edward to talk to her, if she wanted to.

"At first, but then it got unbearable, so I decided to listen to that guy you were talking to." He looked around the room nervously, as if he was unsure of what he was going to say next. "Bella, I will always trust your judgement, but you should have heard the vile and repulsive things he was thinking about you. I hate saying this, but Sophie is right, I want you to stay away from him. The way he thought about you, about women in general, I want - no I need you to stay away. Bella promise me, promete me you will stay away from Jacob Black."