All characters belong to Stephanie Meyers

Ch. 7

EPOV

After the New Year's debacle, Edward and Bella saw little of each other. Every time Edward tried to apologize, Bella turned away and walked in the opposite direction. After a few weeks, Edward gave up and devoted his time to his studies and Tanya. He figured he could wait to talk to Bella until baseball season, as she'd have to talk to her teammate.

When April rolled around, Edward was shocked to find that Bella's name was not on the team roster. After speaking to Jasper, he learned that Bella had decided to spend the entire summer in Arizona with her mother. The team was devastated, but no one more than Edward.

With prom coming up, Edward figured he had one last chance to corner Bella before she left. He had heard of several guys who had asked her to go with them and figured that Bella had to go with one of them. However, when the night came, she was nowhere to be seen. It was at this point that Edward realized how badly he had screwed up and where his feelings truly laid.

Edward Cullen loved Bella Swan.

BPOV

After New Years, Bella stayed as far away from Edward as she could. She told Charlie not to let him in the house, as she had no desire to speak to him. Hearing the hurt in his daughter's voice, Charlie asked no questions and began answering the door with a shotgun whenever Edward tried to come over. Bella smiled at the thought of Charlie's protectiveness, but did nothing to stop him.

The only problem Bella had was school. Due to the small size of the school, there was little she could do to avoid Edward. She switched what classes she could, and arrived just before and just after the bell rang in the others. Even in the hallways, Bella turned to walk in the opposite direction when she saw Edward coming.

Noticing her behavior, Emmett and Jasper confronted Bella. She broke down and told them everything, including her feelings for Edward. Being friends with both Bella and Edward, Jasper backed out and declared himself to be Switzerland. Emmett, on the other hand, truly saw himself as Bella's big brother and took her side. At least once a week Emmett asked if he could beat "Eddie" up, bringing a smile to Bella's face.

In February, Renee called to once again ask Bella to spend the entire summer with her. For the first time in twelve years, Bella told her mother she'd consider it. Renee immediately went full swing into planning the summer. An hour later, Renee finally hung up, saying that Alice would be so excited.

Later, Bella wondered who Alice was, but figured she was some new friend of Renee's. If they were still friends when Bella went to Phoenix, she'd find out then.

If Bella thought her social life was miserable before, it was even worse after New Years. Tanya took her queen bee status to a new extreme. With Edward on her arm, she even surpassed Rosalie in cattiness and officially made Bella a social pariah among the girls.

James wasn't making things any better. He was continually trying to get Bella to go out with him, which attracted other guys to her. For Prom, Bella was asked by at least five different guys, ranging from All-Star Quarterback James to Golden Boy Michael Newton to AV Club President Eric Yorkie. She turned them all down and spent prom night watching the Mariners with Charlie.

Mid-March Bella finally decided to spend the summer in Phoenix with Renee and Phil. Charlie was a little disappointed as he'd be alone all summer without his girl to watch baseball with. Emmett and Jasper were worried about the baseball team and their chances for defending their state championship title. The only person Bella couldn't bring herself to tell was Edward. Every time she went over to tell him, she chickened out before she could even knock on the door.

When Bella confirmed her summer plans with Renee, Renee once again mentioned the mysterious Alice.

"Mom, who is Alice?"

"Didn't I tell you about Alice? She's your sister."

"Sister?" Exclaimed Bella. "Why didn't you tell me you had a baby?"

"Baby? Oh dear God, did you think I could raise another child? Luckily you turned out ok thanks to Charlie, but I couldn't handle another one. Alice is your age. She's Phil's daughter."

"Neither did Phil until recently. He had been contacted by her just before we came up at Christmas where she claimed he was the result of a one-night stand he had seventeen years ago. In January he got the paternity test results back and they confirmed Alice was his daughter.

Her mother had just died when she first contacted Phil and told Alice who her father was on her deathbed and she had no other family. Of course we couldn't let her go into the foster system so she came to live with us shortly after the test results came back. I could have sworn I told you about her…"

Bella was shocked when she got off the phone with her mother. By the end of the conversation, she had learned that Alice was an avid shopper and fashion addict, everything Renee could ask for in a daughter. Bella was nervous to meet the girl, and was unsure of how they would co-exist in the same household for an entire three months.

A.N.

Sorry I haven't updated for a while…I got busy with finals and my college graduation. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this story over the summer before I start law school in the fall!

Wow! Longest chapter to date! Alice finally makes an appearance and will have a bigger role in the rest of the story. Who doesn't love Alice?