The bell rang and as everybody was walking to their last class, I hid in the girls' bathroom. Mike offered to walk me to my next class but I declined quickly, knowing that his next class was gym. I didn't have gym and explaining why would expose my secret. So, as a result, I was hiding in the bathroom. I waited ten minutes after the final bell rang before walking out to the parking lot and starting up my truck. Excitement flooded through me as it roared to life; I still couldn't believe it was mine!

On the way home, I remembered to stop by the store. Nobody saw me as I walked in, thankfully, and I browsed the shelves blissfully unnoticed. After paying for the food, I got back into my truck and drove home. The whole way, my mind was stuck on Edward and the look he gave me during biology. How on earth could he know? Was the staff talking about it and he overheard? I shook my head, trying to dispel the thought and come up with a more reasonable explanation. Maybe he was just thinking about something else… I pulled up to the house putting all the food into their proper places automatically, my brain overflowing with possibilities and explanations. Even though putting away groceries was not a strenuous task, I was exhausted by the time I finished, the effort of imagining reasons why he would look that way tired me out. I looked around the kitchen; I tried to find something to occupy myself with.

Charlie walked in an hour later to me scrubbing the same shiny spot on the counter over and over again.

"Bella?" he asked worriedly. "What are you doing?"

I looked up and stammered, "C-c-cleaning."

He stared at me with a look that said "obviously". "I get that Bells- by the look of it you've been cleaning for a while in the same spot."

"No homework," I explained. With a sigh, he pulled the rag I was using on the counter from my hands and put it in the sink.

"Why don't you come help me and do something useful?" he asked with a small chuckle. I nodded and followed him out of the kitchen and out the back door. The sun was reflecting off of something shiny and I blinked. Blinking again, I realized that the sun was shining off of several shiny something's- specifically a pile of fish. Charlie caught my confused stare and explained,

"They're halibut."

"I see…" I said as I continued to stare at him blankly.

"I need your help in gutting them."

"Uh, y-you want me to g-gut a fish?" I asked incredulously. He smiled, just handing me a knife. "Why?"

"Just for the hali-but."

"What?"

"You know, halibut- just for the hell of it?" he replied.

"Yea, I get it Dad. Don't, don't do it again." I watched as he picked up his own knife and fish and started to work. I flinched as he brought the knife down on the fish's head.

"C'mon that was a fish-tastic joke!" he laughed.

"No, it's not funny at all." I whined.

I was still standing there, watching in disgust when I heard a car pull up. The doors shut and a man called out,

"Charlie?!" he looked up and hollered back,

"Back here!"

"What are you doing?" the man asked.

"Bells and I are gutting some fish for the halibut." He chuckled as I rolled my eyes and sighed at his lame jokes. I saw the owner of the voice and recognized the man as Harry Clearwater. In his hand was a small brown package. Harry held it up for Charlie to see.

"I brought over some of my fish fry."

"Yum," Charlie said with a smile. While they talked, I walked up to the house to take a shower and get the fishy smell off of me. On my way inside, I spotted a face that should not be as familiar as it was. It was Edward. By his side was a small girl, which I remembered was Alice. She waved and he looked at me. I flushed, recalling that knowing look he gave me in biology; so much for forgetting about it. A fluffy golden dog bounced around their feet. It saw me and its tail wagged a million miles an hour. I paused on the sidewalk and it ran up to me yipping excitedly. The dog leaped into the air in my direction and knocked me over causing me to scrape my elbow. I screamed quietly for a moment, before looking at my arm. Oh crap.

"I'm bleeding." Alice rolled her eyes.

"No duh, Bella." She said sarcastically. Edward sighs at his sister and walks over to me, extending his hand in my direction.

"You okay Bella?" he asked with a sweet smile. For a moment I forgot why he was asking. I remembered with a blush and said,

"Yea." Taking his hand, I let him pull me up. Alice went to scold the dog. "Cute dog," I told him. He laughed and said,

"It's not ours; we're trying to find its owner." I stared at him, caught up in his musical laugh.

"Can I help?" I asked without thinking. He seemed shocked but Alice bounded up and said,

"Sure!" Edward shot her a look and she winked at him. I brushed myself off and when I looked up he was staring at me with a weird look on his face.

"What?" I asked, embarrassed. He ran his hand through his hair and asked,

"Why do you smell like fish?" I turned bright red, completely mortified.

"My dad was gutting some halibut and asked me to help him." Alice wrinkled her nose.

"Um, Bella, how about going to change out of those clothes?" I flushed and nodded, turning to walk back into the house.

"Bella don't forget we have to drive into the city on Friday to the cancer center!" Charlie called. I stopped dead in my tracks. Crap! If he didn't know before he knows now, I thought angrily. I turned to face them, cringing at the thought of their beautiful faces distorted with concern. Tears stung my eyes and I brushed them away with the back of my hand as they spilled onto my cheeks.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I'll be right back." Then I fled into the house, slamming my door shut. I sat on my bed and put my hands over my eyes and sobbed into them. After a few minutes, I decided to follow Alice's advice and change. I pulled on some old sweats and a t-shirt before walking into the living room.

The couch was occupied to my surprise when I walked in. I found Edward sitting on the old cushion.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I came to apologize."

"For what?" I asked, surprised again. He looked up from the floor and stared into my eyes.

"For the way Alice has been acting." Edward replied, a beat late. His hesitation showed that Alice wasn't the only reason he hesitated.

"No!" I exclaimed, mad. "Don't pity me. I don't want your apology." Sadness flooded his eyes but he kept it from crossing his face.

"Ok then." He said. There were a few moments of awkward silence between us as I tried to get over my sudden anger. I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"Well. How about we go find that dog's owner?" I asked with false enthusiasm.

"Bella, you don't have to." Edward said gently. I glared at him, thinking this was another form of his sympathy.

"I can if I want to- and I do, so I will." He sighed and got up, gesturing for me to lead the way. I marched passed him and out the door. Alice was waiting with the dog out front. I think she could tell that I needed to calm down.

"Ok. Where should we start?"

"Oh, um….I think we should head down…" she turned and pointed in a random direction, "that way." I took the dog and started walking. I could hear Edward whispering to Alice behind me, but I pretended not to notice. The first house was coming up and I boldly walked up the front porch. Bringing the dog with me, I knocked on the door. A couple of kids answered. Suddenly, I was hit with a wave of self-consciousness. I could still hear them whispering behind me, so I shoved it away and proceeded to say.

"Hello. Is this your dog?" the kids shook their heads and I said goodbye. Turning back to the two, I shook my head and went to the next house. This went on for a few more hours. Eventually, I gave up and told them,

"Sorry guys. Guess your just going to have to take him." Alice nodded a bit sourly and Edward offered to walk me home. I said that was fine, still a bit mad at him. As we walked, we didn't say much. Just the occasional, how's school?

"Look, Bella, I'm sorry if I offended you earlier." Edward confessed. I looked at him and whispered,

"Well, guess the secrets out anyways." He looked confused. "My leukemia." I clarified. Shock flitted across his face but then his expression turned to stone.

"I didn't know. I thought you guys volunteered," Panic gripped me as I realized what I had just done. Crap, oh my goodness I can't believe I told him! Nice going, Bella. I chastised myself.

"Oh."

"How long?" he asked.

"A few years," I replied.

"I knew there was something different about you." He whispered so quietly that I couldn't really be sure that was what he said.

"Excuse me?" I asked. He just smiled and shook his head, ignoring my question. I sighed in annoyance; I hated when guys did that. We walked in silence for a few more minutes before I had the courage to ask,

"Why did you think I was different?"

"It's just the way you hold yourself- like you're afraid of something. It's in your eyes too." Something about the way he said that didn't sit well with me. Even though I didn't really believe it, I was too tired to argue. By that time, we had reached my house and I turned to him.

"Thank you for walking me home." I told him quietly. He nodded.

"Anytime." Then he turned and walked away. I opened the door and saw Charlie in the living room where Edward had sat a few hours previously.

"Hey Dad," I called, to let him know I was home. He waved, glancing up from the game he was watching on his tiny television. I walked slowly up the stairs, going into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and was about to just brush my teeth and go to bed. The smell of fish was coming up from downstairs, though, and I felt the need to shower. Closing the door, I turned the water as hot as I could stand.

Twenty minutes later, I was drying off and getting into my pajamas.

"Bells, do you want some dinner?" Charlie called from the kitchen. I wandered down and looked to see what he had made. Harry Clearwater was still there, dishing up his fish fry. Ew, I groaned internally and said,

"No thanks, Dad, I had a big lunch."

"You sure? Harry makes some of the best fish fry ever." I nodded and walked back up to my room. Shutting the door on the smell of fish, I laid down in bed and fell asleep.

The sound of the crowd swirled around her as she sat at the table with her friends in the mall. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Suddenly, it hit her and she looked at her friend Amanda in amazement. The girls were giggling all around her as they chatted aimlessly about everything.

"Did you see Matt yesterday?" Amanda gushed. "His hair looked so cute spiked up!" Another girl next to her laughed and started talking about a boy named Nick.

She blinked and they were dancing in the park, squealing when the sprinklers came on. Then they laughed harder and chased each other through the water spraying up in rainbow arcs. The wet grass clung to her feet as she chased a girl named Chelsea across the park. Both of them tripped and went stumbling, giggling in shock at the sight of the ground coming up to meet them.

She blinked again and they were all sitting in a cold, white room that smelled like Lysol. The girls were in a huddle around her, their eyes red and puffy, their cheeks wet from tears that streamed down their faces; her mascara was running and she hugged them back. At first, she didn't remember why they were crying. Then the doctor walked in with her mother and she realized where she was. All of the sudden she felt claustrophobic. Jumping up, she turned, searching for an exit. The red sign glowed above a door to her right and she bolted towards it. It was bright outside and she held her hand over eyes to shade them from the sun. Staggering forward, she jogged down the sidewalk, not caring that she was still in the thin cotton hospital gown. People stared as she walked by. All she wanted was to be alone where nobody could look at her. Their stares sent waves of panic through her and she froze. There was a buzzing sound in her hears and she shook her head to clear it. It got louder and she realized that the buzzing sound was really the sound of a car horn. The driver was honking frantically, waving for her to get out of the middle of the road. She stood there, not knowing what to do. Her ears filled with the sound of the car horn, the screams of passerby and her own shocked shriek as she braced herself…

… for the impact that would never come. Once again, I woke up drenched in sweat. The nightmares were back.