I woke up to the sound of yelling that morning. I wasn't awake enough to know who it was, but I thought that I should go figure out. I quickly brushed my teeth and put my hair in a ponytail and made my way down the stairs. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw James towering over Alice, yelling in her face.

"You should have made her go home!" he screamed. Alice showed no sign of his yelling bothering her. She was remaining surprisingly calm.

"Why? Why would I tell her to go home? You dumped her. Please, give me one logical reason why I should have sent my crying best friend home." Alice was so calm, but the harshness of her voice was equivalent to yelling.

"So that we could talk about what happened!" Right after James said that, he looked up from Alice's face and his angry eyes found mine. "Well, thanks for finally gracing us with your presence," he spat. Alice shot him a glare, but he was too busy glaring at me to notice.

"Hi," I managed to say.

"Can you please tell me why you didn't come home? Please, I'm dying to know," he said sarcastically.

I told myself that I couldn't be weak with my answer. I had to show him that I was strong, and that this all wasn't effecting me as much as it really was. "Well, after you almost cut off the circulation in my arms and practically tossed me in the street, I wasn't about to go home to you." I was satisfied with my answer, and a small smile crept up my lips. It looked like both Alice and James were fuming with rage.

"What did you do to her?" Now she was yelling.

"It's none of your business," James said through his teeth.

"She's my best friend, of course it's my business. But, if you don't want me involved, you can deal with Emmet." Alice put her hands on her hips and stared at him. He could obviously tell she wasn't bluffing. James had always tried to stay on Emmet's good side, which was one of the reasons Emmet did not like him.

"Emmet does not to be involved. It's not as bad as Bella is making it out to be." He was pleading with his voice.

"Bella," Alice said, "please come here."

I slowly made my way towards Alice, keeping my eyes on my feet the whole way.

"Bella, show James what he did to you," she said firmly. I gently shook my head. I didn't want him to become angrier. Since I wouldn't voluntarily show him, Alice took my hands and flipped them so that he could see the scratches on my palms. Then she pulled the sleeves of my t-shirt up, exposing the bruises that had turned a violent purple overnight.

"Oh," was all James said. I roughly pulled my hands away from Alice's hold and placed them behind my back.

"Yeah, that's what you did to her. Now do you think that it was a wise choice for me to send her home?"

"Yes, I think so. I was just angry because she made a fool out of me in the restaurant." His tone indicated that that was all he really cared about.

"You are absurd," Alice said harshly. "Now, please get out of my house. Neither of us have any desire to be around you." She was right. I needed to get over all of this, and I couldn't do that with him around.

"Bella, I'm sorry. Can we please just work this out?" he pleaded as he took a step closer to me.

"No, James. We can't." My answer shocked him. He expected me to come running back to him once I got the chance. But, he was wrong.

He looked as if he was going to argue, but stopped when a phone started ringing. I followed the noise and found that it was coming from my phone in my jacket pocket. I needed an excuse to get away from this conversation, so I quickly answered it without looking at the called id.

"Hello?" I asked in what I hoped was a normal tone.

"Bella?" the velvety voice asked. My breathing hitched when I realized it was Edward.

"Y-yes" I stuttered.

"Hello, Bella. It's Edward, from last night." His voice was so calm and comforting. I could feel some of the worry actually leaving my body.

"Oh, hi. Good morning," I said. I could feel Alice and James watching me, but I didn't care.

"Good morning," he replied. "I was actually calling to see if you might want to go out to lunch today."

I couldn't answer. I was overwhelmed with happiness. It was extremely odd how someone that I hadn't even known for twenty-four hours could have this type of effect on me. He must have misinterpreted my silence, because he quickly rephrased his question.

"I mean, as friends of course. It's not a date." His voice was nervous, like he was scared of being rejected.

"Yes, that sounds like fun. Would you like me to meet you?" Happiness was pouring through my voice. I looked at Alice and saw her staring at me with a look of confusion, and then I looked at James to see him looking at me with a look of rage.

"I'll pick you up, if that's okay," he answered. That was actually a good idea. He would have the chance to meet Alice.

"Yeah, that's fine. Do you remember the address?" I questioned.

"Yes. So I'll pick you up around one? I would pick you up sooner but I have a meeting at work." His voice was appolgetic.

"That's fine. So I'll see you at one?" I hadn't meant for it to sound like a question, but I couldn't help it. I had to double check to see if this was real.

"Yes," I could sense a smile in his voice, and I instantly started grinning.

"Okay. Bye Edward," I said reluctantly. I didn't want to hang up, but I had to make sure that James left so I could start getting ready.

"Bye, Bella."

After hanging up the phone, I had to take a minute to calm myself down. I was feeling so strange. My ex boyfriend was in the other room, and though I knew that any normal girl would be crying her eyes out while listening to any lame excuse he could think of, I was the complete opposite. I wanted him out of the house so that I could have lunch with Edward.

"James, I think it's time for you to go," I said assertively, earning a huge smile from Alice.

"Who were you on the phone with?" he asked angrily.

"You lost the privledge to know the answer to that question when you broke up with me last night. You have no reason to be here, so please leave." I put my hands on hips to show him that I was serious.

"Whatever, Bella. You will be crawling back to me before you know it," he said as he headed for the door.

"Don't hold your breath!" I yelled after him. I felt so free. It was amazing.

"I have to say, I'm extremely proud of you," Alice chirped. "So, who was that on the phone? You seemed pretty happy to be talking to whoever it was."

"His name is Edward," I couldn't stop myself from smiling when I said his name. "After James pushed me and left, a cab pulled up next to me and the person inside told me to get it. Well, that person was Edward. He's amazing, Alice. He's coming to pick me up around one for lunch." I looked at Alice to see her clapping her hands and jumping up and down like a little girl.

"Oh! Can I get you ready? Please?" I couldn't deny her. She had a way of making me look beautiful, which was what I wanted today.

"Yes, you can," I replied. Alice stopped clapping and jumping and wrapped her little arms around my waist.

"Follow me. You can tell me about Edward while I'm getting you ready," she said excitedly.

I happily followed her into her room, jumping in my seat the whole time as I told her about Edward.

He had the strangest effect on me, but it was a good effect. The sound of his voice calmed me and his touch electrified me. I was so ecstatic for lunch, and when the doorbell finally rung I couldn't stop myself from squealing like a little girl.

Today was going to be a good day.