Voila! Merci pour les critiques. C'est tres bien!

Translation: Here! Thank you for the reviews. It's very nice/good!

Thanks to Zukaddy for being my beta and mentioning me in her story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the truth.

Survival of the Smartest

Chapter Two: Unrequited Love

Bella's POV

I managed to get to school on time—if just barely. After the call I had quickly changed into something a little cuter. Now I was wearing dark jeans and a tight t-shirt my best friend Alice had picked out for me. I normally wouldn't have worn it out of my own will, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

I was dressed and packed for school with twenty minutes to spare. Usually that was more than enough time, but, of course, my truck wouldn't start for a while. By the time I got it going, I only had five minutes.

Add that to the fact that my car can't go over fifty miles without wheezing, I knew I was going to be cutting it close.

Maybe Rosalie, my other best friend, would look at it for me during lunch break. She was pretty good with cars and her price—one pair of shoes—was much cheaper than Dowling's.

So, I pulled up and parked just as the warning bell was ringing. I ran inside with no regard to my hair, turned my combination, yanked open my locker, and grabbed my books. I turned to make a run for my homeroom when—oof! Who do I run into but Edward Super-Smarty-pants Cullen. Yeah, I'm real mature.

"Hey," he said, looking down at me with his sparkling, dark green eyes. I could have sworn he was happy to see me, if only that stupid race to the top hadn't made it impossible.

Let me explain the whole "I-hate-Edward-but-really-love-him-thing." In 7th grade my mom had sent me to live with my father. I didn't really mind moving in with Charlie; it was the whole rain thing that bothered me. It never stops raining here!

Anyways, I was a pretty good student. I might not have been in all honors classes, but I had at least a 3.9 average in all my classes. When I moved here, I devoted myself to school so that I wouldn't have to concentrate on the fact that I was a) a nerd b) stuck here in the rain c) friendless and d) so totally lost you wouldn't believe it. I managed to forget about the rain and the nerd factor, and over a period of time I managed to make friends with Alice and Rosalie, but I still stayed committed to schoolwork and getting ahead.

That was when Edward Cullen moved to town.

He was Alice's cousin, so I expected him to be good looking. I mean, if she were taller she'd be a model. That's how pretty she is. I didn't expect him to be very bright though. Alice wasn't a great student, and her parents weren't brains either. I figured it ran in the family.

I was right on one account: he was incredibly hot. I was also wrong on one account: he was incredibly smart too. Like Al Gore smart. The kind where you know someone's smart by how they act and talk, but they don't rub it in your face.

BEC (Before Edward Cullen) I was top of my class. Maybe not the smartest, but I had the best grades. Maybe studying and doing homework on Friday nights instead of seeing the new Thriller movie in Port Angeles paid off! But, WECMTF (When Edward Cullen Moved To Forks) I finally had some competition.

It consumed me.

I became obsessed with being better than him. Of course, having all our teachers compare us and force us against one another didn't help either. I was driven to be better than him, but also driven to have him notice me. I don't know if I managed to do the first, but he definitely knew who I was. And he definitely didn't like me.

Once in every lifetime, a girl has an unrequited love, mine just happens to be my first love.

So, where was I before I started babbling… oh yeah! I bumped into Edward. Well, more like crashed into him.

"Hey," I whispered back. Being so close caused my throat to close up. How the heck was I going to work with him on a project?

"Sorry, I guess I didn't see you there."

"Oh, uh, no. It's my fault." I was still having trouble forming sentences.

"Well, see you later. I guess we'll be hanging out a lot soon."

It took me a second of staring blankly at him to realize what he was talking about. "Oh yeah, the Academic thing. Right. Okay."

With one more smile he disappeared into his homeroom.

BRRRRINNGG!!!!

I was late. Dammit.

Edward's POV

I was almost to my homeroom when I was Bella. She was bending down to get her books and looking fantastic. I could tell my cousin Alice had picked out the clothes because it wasn't what Bella usually wore. Was she trying to impress someone? Me?

I could only hope.

I didn't really want to talk to her right now, I was still a bit flustered around her, so I was trying to skirt around her. Unfortunately, she has a knack for bumping into anything near her, and I was near her.

"Oof!"

Her pretty little head slammed right into my chest.

"Hey," I said, trying to make conversation.

It took her a moment of rubbing her head to reply. "Hey."

Her voice was so pretty! Wow, I really need to take a reality pill…

"Sorry, I guess I didn't see you there," I apologized.

"Oh, uh, no. It's my fault," she murmured back. She was still rubbing her head, though. I hoped I didn't hurt her.

Of course, I wasn't brave enough to ask if she was okay. I just reminded her we would be working together and ducked into my homeroom. The bell rang just as I slipped into my seat and the monitor shot me a look, but I was too distracted to notice. I think I was falling head over heels for a girl who hates me.

Its like Pride and Prejudice. I'm Mr. Darcy and unfortunately Bella is Elizabeth Bennett.

I could only hope this would end the same as the book.

Thanks again for the reviews; make sure to leave some more though!

I love you all and I'll try to make next chapter a little longer, but I hate writing long chapters. I run out of ideas and get bored! Lool…