Finally I'm updating again! Sorry for the wait, I've been really busy, and with school starting I'll be even less frequent. APOLOGIES, GROVELS AT YOUR FEET FOR FORGIVENESS! Thanks to those who reviewed. Here's chapter 3!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Time's a funny thing. Whenever you're eager for something to happen and you want it to speed up, it's like everything's in slow-mo. And it's the opposite when you don't want something to happen, like going to the doctor's or something. Time is tricky. And I desperately wished it would slow down.

Monday came like lightning. The sleepover at Alice's had been a disaster, as expected—she wanted me to vent, I rambled a little about how stupid Jacob was, and that was the end of that. Thankfully I managed to escape her big makeover, after finally convincing her that my life sucked enough for one day. And an extra special bonus when I left was that I realized she hadn't mentioned my supposed "denial" that I wasn't falling for Edward. Score!

But Monday came faster than imaginable; completely killing whatever "good" mood I had left. As I stepped into the school, I saw a huge, I mean huge banner hanging off the walls that read: BELLA, WAIT IS ON BILLBOARDS TOP 100! LET'S GO ROCK-SQUARE!

Yeah, after that, I really wished I'd paper-bagged a lunch so I could shove that brown bag over my head. I had passed Jasper's ride offer this morning, figuring it'd be a nice treat for Alice to ride with him alone for once, so I walked to my locker alone. I immediately regretted refusing his offer.

Now, I'm not the most popular girl in the school. I'm known but not one of those social butterflies or gossip girls or a Beautiful Person—I was just Bella. I was normal, so it was very startling to round the corner and see my locker bombarded with people. I didn't know what to do so I just turned around and walked the other way, though I could feel their eyes boring into my back. And, as I said, this was just the beginning.

For the next week, I received stares, random people I hardly knew talking to me, even gifts. There was always that someone who asked about Jacob, or Rock Square, and if I had any inside info about the band, feel free to confide. I was ready to chuck myself out a window, let me tell you. I hated attention, especially when I'm likely to fall flat on my face, and this new hit by Jacob was really getting under my skin. I mean, I hadn't even written the stupid thing! Why were people questioning me? Why not just ask him, or the band?

I caught up with Alice at lunch one day—the only class we had together, how convenient—and was surprised to see her Jasper-less. But before I could voice my curiosity, she yelled, "This is incredible!"

I looked around nervously as three people stopped what they were doing and stared at us. I groaned and pulled her to a table, where maybe she'd be a little less obvious.

"Um, if by swarming strangers and a should-be-illegal-amount of staring at you means incredible, then yeah." I said, my tone dripping sarcasm. Alice rolled her eyes at me.

"Bella, you're so negative. I would love to be you right now, you lucky duck!"

I choked on my sandwich mid-bite. "Lucky duck? You want to switch places with me? I'd be more than willing, just lead me to your amazing body-reversing machine."

Alice scoffed. "See what I mean? How can you not be loving this? Everyone is suddenly wanting to be you're new best friend! Now, don't forget me while you're off being famous."

It was my turn to scoff. "Famous? That's the craziest thing I've heard yet, and trust me, I've heard a lot of crazy stuff." Like the rumor going around school that I'd cheated on Jacob, was a slut, and kept a list of guys I'd screwed. How's that for famous?

"Bella, look at this as an amazing opportunity, not a bad thing. If this song jets to the American Top 40 like I know it will, this is just the beginning. Think of the coolness! Free products, maybe a few backstage passes to concerts...maybe we'll even be able to meet Zac Efron! I bet he'd love to meet the core of 'Bella, Wait!'"

"Ugh, you're blowing this way out of proportion, Alice. First off, I'm never getting famous. This whole thing is ridiculous. Second, Zac Efron is not my type—I'd have him meet you, Bella's best friend."

Alice squealed. "You'd be the best best friend ever! But I'm just saying—don't underestimate this. I bet you all my makeup this'll be huge. Just wait, Bella, just wait."

I shrugged. I wasn't willing to bet against Alice yet. I could only hope she was wrong.

Of course I should've known better.

--

After school was out I trudged to my toasty red truck and headed to my pitiful job. I got the familiar tingly feeling as I spotted Edward's silver Volvo in the parking lot. I squeezed in next to his and a large blue van and put on my work apron. It had a picture of a coffee mug and the words SUNSHINE COWS floating in the steam above. I sighed. The name was bad enough—couldn't the person who owned it create a logo a little more original?

The door's bells played as I opened it, signaling a customer, or in my case, worker, had arrived. Edward didn't notice me until I wedged behind the customer desk. He acknowledged me with a nod, never taking his eyes off the big bag of coffee beans he was pouring into the coffee maker. I stifled a sigh. I usually supplied the opening to our conversation.

"Hey Edward. Did Crazy Tracy come yet?" I asked, smiling. Crazy Tracy was a customer that came every other day at around the time my shift started, always ordering the same black iced coffee. She moved the business along.

"Nah, you didn't miss her this time," Edward replied, still filling the coffee maker. When he didn't say anything more, I turned to the radio, wrinkling my nose. It was some cheesy pop station. I fooled around the with the stations a little, upping the volume, and settled on what I thought was an innocent one—Luv 101.6. I mouthed the words to some songs as I served the customers, smiling at Edward once in a while. He smiled back and didn't change the station, making my smile grow. When I'd first signed to the job, Edward had told me we weren't supposed to play with the radio—at the time he had a horrid jazz theme, not even good enough for background music. So, after him informing me, I waited a few minutes before changing it to my previous favorite station, KIX 99.1.

"Bella, are you doing anything on Thursday?" Edward asked suddenly. No one was at the counter now, so I was busy restocking out napkin supply. I froze as I processed his words.

"I was just wondering because that's when I usually work, but my cousin's wedding is scheduled, so I just thought that maybe you could fill in, you know. Not that you have to, because I understand if you're busy or something, but if you aren't, you know, I'd appreciate it." Edward explained quickly after I didn't respond right away.

I let out my breath, not realizing I'd sucked it in, and tried to hide my disappointment.

"Um, sure, no problem," I said.

"Thanks, it means a lot to me," Edward told me. We lapsed into a comfortable silence after that. I was reaching for some cups under the counter when my eyes caught sight of Edward's work folder. I took it out, curious. On the front was a beautiful collage of bands and song lyrics, perfectly glued so there was no paper edged sticking up. I felt a warm feeling spread through me—I loved making collages. My mom says I got that artistic side from her, but Charlie says he was creative when he was my age, so I'm not sure. Without thinking, I took it out from under and set it on the counter. Edward noticed what I was doing and quickly snatched the folder away from me.

"Hey! I was looking at that," I protested. Edward was blushing hard, trying to file the folder away.

"It's really beautiful, you know. The collage, I mean. I didn't know you were that...inventive. I do collages too."

"Oh, it's nothing, just something I do in my spare time." Edward said, hastily settling on throwing it behind him. I laughed as his blush reddened.

"I didn't know you made collages," he said after a moment. "Why didn't you say something?"

"You never asked," I replied simply.

"I guess we don't know a lot about each other, then," Edward mused. It looked like he was about to say something else when some teenage girls stormed in, laughter echoing in the small Shoppe. They were giggling and whispering, eyeing Edward without so much as glancing at me. I wasn't surprised—just a bit annoyed that they'd interrupted Edward and my conversation.

The group came toward us, still hissing to each other.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely, as Edward had stepped in the back to retrieve more bags of coffee.

"Um, we're sort of still deciding," A small brunette snapped at me. I knew she was lying—they were just waiting for Edward to reappear, so he'd take their order. I nodded at them and turned to scowl.

Edward came out again, blushing when he saw the intimidating gaggle of girls. I felt queasy as they batted their long eyelashes at him. When they'd left, I let out a sigh and turned the radio higher. Music always cheered me up.

Except that was when the song came on. Bella, Wait was apparently hitting all airwaves. I groaned as Edward smirked at me before switching the station. I smiled at him gratefully.

And then it struck me as odd that, as many people who'd treated me differently and swarmed around my locker, he wasn't one of them. And how everyone in school had tried to be my best friend, and he didn't seem to care.

Ooh! So you finally saw them together. Don't worry, they'll be interacting more, so have patience! Review and tell me what you think, they really keep me going and make me update faster. WINKIE!!