It was Tuesday morning. I hated Tuesdays. At least on Monday, I was still in the weekend mentality. By Tuesday, everything always went downhill.

My morning classes flew by in a blur. I dodged Mike a few times, knowing that a whole bunch of my friends were going to the movies tonight and that he was likely going to invite me.

He had asked me out a couple of times since I had returned to a semi-normal human state, but of course I always turned him down. My rejection never seemed to faze him, though. Towards the end of every week, he always asked me if I was interested in grabbing dinner and a movie. In a way, I was grateful for his kindness and his friendship. He was one of the only friends in my group who had accepted me back with open arms.

By lunch, I was exhausted. I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, since all I dreamt about these days were nightmares involving Victoria and the various ways she could kill me and my loved ones. I yawned and thought that napping on the cafeteria table seemed like a pretty good idea.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Angela asked me as she sat down across from me.

"I'm not hungry," I responded. I folded my arms on the table and rested my chin on top. "Maybe I'll get something later."

She shrugged and bit into her slice of pizza. "Are you coming to the movies tonight?"

"I don't think so."

Her eyes met mine and narrowed. "Bella. You really should come. It would be good for you."

Since Angela and I had gotten closer, she had grown more comfortable in my presence. The meek, quiet Angela was still there, but she wasn't so careful around me anymore. She had become a really good friend and she was constantly trying to get me out of the house.

I thought of her kindness to me the past few months and stifled my annoyance. "Maybe."

She shook her head and took another bite. "We're meeting up at 6. Please think about it, at least."

I reached over and stole her apple. With a grin, I bit into it and winked. "Will do."

Giggling, she shook her head at me. Then her expression sobered somewhat and she watched me in silence for a few moments.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious. Did I have apple skin in my teeth or something? That would be fitting.

She surprised me by suddenly reaching over and rubbing my arm. "It's good to have you back, Bella."

After lunch, I made my way to English class. I groaned as I walked in, realizing that there was no way to avoid Mike now. We sat next to one another every day and he was, of course, already waiting for me.

"Hey, Bella," he exclaimed, putting out his hand for a high-five.

I awkwardly put my hand out and then sat ungracefully in the desk next to his.

"You heard about the movies tonight, right? Please tell me you're coming."

I looked at him and sighed. "I don't think I'll be able to."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"I… I have a lot of homework."

"Bella, that's a load of bull and you know it. Come. It'll be good for you."

I just shook my head and focused my gaze on the desk. I ran my fingers over some carved initials and tried to ignore Mike's burning glare.

"God!" he shouted out suddenly, making me jump and squeal. A girl a few desks in front of me turned around and snickered. "Are you going to let Cullen screw up your life forever? He's gone, Bella. Gone forever. He left you here, broken, and you're still letting him ruin your life. He moved on Bella- so should you."

I felt the blood drain from my face and the hole that always threatened to suck me in began throbbing. Breathing became impossible and I wondered randomly if I'd suffocate to death. I literally felt as though Mike had slapped me. Why was he saying those horrible things to me? He knew that he was a forbidden topic. I knew all too well how he'd been able to move on; I didn't need to be reminded of it.

His eyes suddenly became repentant and he reached out his hand tentatively to touch my arm. "I'm sorry, Bella. That was wrong. It's just so… upsetting to see you like this. You've been better lately but you're still… You're a beautiful, great girl and you're throwing your life away."

I could see his point and I knew everyone else pretty much agreed with him. But what point was there to living fully and going out to the movies and going on dates when he was no longer with me? To me, there was no point. I was fully prepared to go through the motions for the rest of my life and hang out with the few friends I had, and that I knew full well I didn't deserve, and share a laugh every now and then. That's all I expected from life now. That's all I wanted.

My vision blurred with unshed tears. I stood up slowly and begged myself not to cry yet. I didn't want to lose it in class.

"I'll be right back," I whispered.

"Bella…" Mike started but I ran out before he could say anything else.

I felt like I was going to throw up as I burst into the girl's bathroom, startling a girl who was just washing her hands.

Five minutes later, I was still sitting in the girl's bathroom. I swiped the last few tears off my cheeks and stood reluctantly. The extra-cold air conditioning felt nice and refreshing on my sticky skin. I really didn't want to go back to class and started mentally beating myself up for not ditching when I had the chance. Now I had to go back- I left my backpack in there and everything.

Walking slowly and deliberately, I made my way back down the hall. I opened the door hesitantly, knowing Mr. Russo was going to start screaming at me for missing the first few minutes of class. To my surprise, he wasn't there yet.

Mike was staring at me in an expression full of pity. I hated it when people looked at me like that. People weren't doing it so much anymore, thank God, but every once and again I'd catch it on someone's face.

"Are you okay?" he asked me as I plopped down next to him. His voice and face were filled with such concern that the animosity I had been feeling towards him faded. It always did eventually; he was one of those people that were too nice for you to stay mad at.

I just nodded and took out my notebook.

"Mr. Russo came in for a minute before but he left some papers in his office or something. You're lucky."

Nodding again, I fixed my gaze out the windows to my left. I saw Lauren sitting on one of the benches next to Tommy Daly, one of the more popular guys in our grade. He looked utterly uninterested and I smiled wickedly.

"There's a new guy, by the way," Mike whispered in my ear. He was way too close. "His name is Shane or Sean or something."

"Really?" My voice was flat; I hoped he'd get the message that I could care less. I tried to shift away from him but couldn't get too far in my desk.

"Yeah," he responded back enthusiastically, not catching on. "He moved here from New York with his dad. He looks pretty weird to me."

I looked back at him and then around the classroom, trying to find the new face. Finally, I spotted him. He was sitting in the back row and to the right of the classroom. He had headphones on, blasting music so loudly I wondered how I hadn't noticed him before. His head was bowed over, so I couldn't get a good look at him, but I could tell he had floppy brown hair. He seemed tall and he was dressed all in black.

Great, I thought, just what this school needs- another goth.

Mr. Russo walked in then, looking less than happy. "It seems the pop quizzes I was planning on giving you today have mysteriously vanished." He stared pointedly at Ted Gallagher, the notorious bad body of school. Ted just shrugged and grinned at one of his friends. It was obvious, even to me, that he had stolen them. "Since the photo copy machine isn't working, you guys are off the hook. For today." He made his way stiffly over to his desk and then looked over towards the new boy. He raised his hand and beckoned to him with his index finger. "I'd like you to come up and introduce yourself to the class, please."

I heard a loud, dramatic sigh and watched with interest as the new kid walked slowly to the front of the room. He was a lot taller than I'd imagined. He spun on his heel and faced the class, his headphones still on his ears. He raised his eyebrows at us, almost defiantly, and then grinned.

"My name is Shane Walsh. I'm from New York City. I hate it here. That's all."

A few girls in the front giggled and he rolled his eyes. He looked at Mr. Russo and asked him if he could return to his desk. Mr. Russo only nodded. I felt for the guy; he had unknowingly crossed the line in Mr. Russo's book and now would undoubtedly end up on the unfavorable list.

Class began but I had a hard time concentrating. Shane was extremely interesting and familiar to me in a way. He looked like he didn't want to be bothered and I knew immediately we had a lot in common. I figured that it might do me some good to befriend him; I could finally hang out with someone who wouldn't pressure me to move on and go out to the movies. He would wallow with me instead.

The next day was more of the same. I was so ready for the weekend, even though Angela was dragging me shopping with her. Ben was taking her out to a fancy restaurant for their anniversary and she wanted to get a new dress. She wanted someone to go with her and give her some good advice and she picked me, mostly because she was the closest to me and because Jessica was no help whatsoever.

I groaned as I finally entered the cafeteria. Lunch was my least favorite time of the day. Maybe it was because a lot of my memories, especially of the early days, revolving around him happened in the cafeteria. Or maybe it was because of the people I sat with. They weren't the most pleasant of people, Angela excluded.

The lunch line was excruciatingly long but I ended up getting my lunch a lot faster than I'd expected. Angela was a few people behind so I waited until she caught up and then we walked over together. Jessica and Lauren were having a bit of a fight on one side of the table so Angela wordlessly led us to the other side.

I gasped when I saw who was sitting there.

Shane Walsh was sitting in between Mike and Ben, smiling to himself. He still wore black, though the clothes were slightly more fashionable than the day before. The headphones were still perched defiantly on his head and he had a notebook of drawings open in front of him.

"Hey," Mike said warmly as we sat across from him. Angela said hey back; I just smiled. "Bella, Angela- this is Shane. Bella, he's in our English class, remember?"

"Yeah," I said, trying my best not to roll my eyes. "It's nice to meet you," I said to Shane.

His eyes met mine and I was momentarily stunned. He was gorgeous. With the exception of one other person, he had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They weren't technically blue, they weren't technically grey, and they weren't all green. They almost seemed to be clear to me and yet also every color combined. His features were perfect, of course, and if it weren't for the flush in his face I'd wonder if he was a vampire. He blinked a couple of times, probably wondering why the heck I was staring at him so intently. I blushed and looked down at my macaroni and cheese.

"You're the Chief's daughter, right?"

I looked up, surprised. He was smirking at me. "Yeah," I said slowly, "how did you know?"

"My dad met yours when we first moved in. He mentioned you when I said I was coming here."

"Oh." I couldn't think of anything else to say.

He turned his attention back on the notebook in front of him and I heard his music get louder.

Angela looked at me and I could tell already what she was thinking.

He was a strange kid.