I don't own Twilight.

Chapter 6

By the end of the first week they were almost finished with the Philosopher's Stone. Their time together was fun for both and certainly educational for Edward. He found himself looking forward to the time in the library.

Bella was sad for the weekend to start. Her eighteenth birthday was on Sunday and as far as she knew there were no plans to celebrate. Her father usually spent every Sunday either fishing or watching sports. Newton's was only open half days on Sunday so Bella didn't have to work. The only thing she really had to look forward to was laundry.

Bella went to bed Saturday night happy, having just read a very long, newsy email from Alice. The birthday card Alice had sent arrived Friday and held its place on her bedside table. Alice's email was full of stories about her parents, her school, her boyfriend and her life. Alice painted such lovely pictures with her words that Bella was almost able to visualize Alice running through her life. Bella dreamt that night of summers and sleepovers spent with her best friend. Edward was only a misty shadow in the background.

She woke up Sunday morning to the smell of burnt toast and the sound of her father swearing. Bella ran down the stairs with her bathrobe in her hand to find her father trying to make breakfast. Charlie was many things but a good cook he was not. If he had stuck to a simple breakfast it wouldn't have been a problem, but he tried to do too much. Bella giggled at the sight of him furiously scrambling eggs and flipping sausage.

Despite the burnt toast, it was one of the best breakfasts Bella had ever had. Her father was in a great mood, telling stories of his adventures and weird arrests. They sat at the table well into the morning, just talking, until the smell of burnt toast was gone. Bella was happy to spend the day doing her chores as her father watched something involving sports.

Bella went to school the next morning with hope, she didn't even mind having Edward around at reading time. She didn't mind the glares she got from Mike and his little pack of jerks. She didn't mind the homework she was assigned by her teachers. Her good mood carried on through the week and as they started reading The Chamber of Secrets.

Tyler and Bella quickly established that Dobby was one of their favourite characters even if he caused Harry trouble. By the end of the week they were half way through and very excited for the end of the story.

The weeks went on and as The Chamber of Secrets led into The Prisoner of Azkaban and then The Goblet of Fire their friendship grew. Tyler tried everything he could think of the get Bella to dress up for Hallowe'en with him. He was dressing up like Harry, of course, and all his friends were going to be Quidditch players. She very nicely refused, not wanting to give the school another reason to hate her. She did drive over to his house that evening and show him her Sybil Trelawney outfit, much to Tyler's delight.

Unfortunately Bella witnessed Tyler have a seizure for the first time just after Hallowe'en. They were alone in the library, Edward had an appointment. Tyler had been unusually quiet when he came to the library and about 5 minutes after she started reading he began seizing with his right arms twitching uncontrollably. She jumped to her feet and helped him to the floor so he wouldn't hit his head on the way down. She quickly moved everything she could out of his way and started to dial the phone numbers on her list. The paramedics arrived first to assess the situation. Tyler's mother pulled up to the school just as they were taking Tyler out to the ambulance. Edward was right behind her.

Tyler's mother rode in the ambulance with him, Bella drover her car over to the hospital so she could have it later. The nurses got as much information from Bella as they could to help with Tyler's recovery. She let them know the duration, the symptoms she witnessed before and after the seizure, and she answered all their questions as best she could.

When Bella was done with the nurses, she went to find Mrs. Crowley to give her the car keys. Bella brushed off any praise for her comportment during the episode and hugged Mrs. Crowley tightly as she cried. Edward gave her a simple thank you as Bella left the hospital to go back to school. After meeting with the principal Bella left school early for the day.

Bella lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time, going over the days events in her mind. She had never felt so scared before, so out of control. Thinking back she had no idea how she kept her cool. She wiped away the few tears on her cheeks and went downstairs to start dinner. Bella had to go to work for a few hours but wanted to get an early start on dinner before she left. It would make the rest of the night easier.

Bella was very happy not to have to work with Mike that night. She had caught him glaring at her again as the ambulance pulled away with Tyler. Work was uneventful and therefore incredibly boring. As was the rest of her night. She told Charlie what happened at school and called Mrs. Crowley to check up on Tyler. The doctors were keeping him home from school the next day so Bella did not have reading to look forward to.

Bella had a very bad morning. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, no hot water, coffee grounds in the coffee, curdled milk and waking late. Bella was in a bad mood before she even walked into the school.

She was very surprised to find a note shoved into her locker when she went to retrieve her lunch bag. She slipped it into her pocket to read later when she was in the library after lunch.

AN: But what does the note say? I would like to thank Midnight Cougar for recommending this story on tehlemonadestand. She did so even after experiencing my supreme weirdness via email. Either she is very, very nice or she's afraid that I'm crazy and she's placating me. I'm going with nice, and kind, and patient, and thoughtful, and generous, and ...