I wasn't surprised to see Shane waiting by my car when school let out. I was sure, even as I flew from English class earlier, that he'd still be there.

"Bella," he said as I got closer, "I'm sorry if I pissed you off before. I was wrong to try and force you to tell me."

"It's okay," I said flatly.

He visibly relaxed and smiled slightly at me.

"Do you need a ride?" I asked, suppressing a smile when a look of sheer shock came on his face.

"Uh… that would be great… My dad's not coming." He smiled sheepishly at me. "Thank you."

"No problem," I said nonchalantly. "Get in."

I decided to wait a few moments before asking my round of questions. Of course, Shane surprised me and completely distracted me before I had a chance.

"Do you want to come over for a bit?"

I swerved a little and earned a honk from the car driving in the other direction.

Reflexively, I was prepared to say no. But then I remembered I had to figure Shane out immediately to determine whether or not he was a risk.

"Sure," I mumbled.

"Great!" He grinned at me and then focused his eyes onto my dashboard. "Are you ever going to get a radio?"

"No," I responded, trying desperately not to lose my cool.

"I think you're the only teenager in the world who doesn't blast music in the car."

I didn't answer.

"Do you really not like music?" he asked in disbelief, continuing on despite my silence. "At first I thought you were just playing around but now-"

"Yes," I cut him off, "I really don't like music. As a matter of fact, I hate music. The only thing I hate more than music is talking about music."

That shut him up.

Thankfully, I turned onto his driveway a few minutes later.

"Come on," he said with a smile. He gently tugged on my sleeve and nodded to his house. "Let's go."

I followed after him slowly. By the time I reached the front door, he was already holding it open with an amused grin on his face.

"You're really slow, aren't you?"

I ignored him and made my way into his house. Taking it in, I audibly gasped and stopped short.

It was beautiful.

It looked huge on the outside but inside, it looked like a castle. The room we were standing in was gigantic with an incredibly high glass ceiling. A long staircase stood a few feet away. To the right was a beautiful sitting room with rose-colored walls and romantic lighting. To the left was an airy, comfortable-looking living room with large windows. White, lacy curtains flew to the floor and the furniture was bright blue. I noticed a fireplace and a big screen TV inside. Two long hallways ran on either side of the staircase, but they were too dark for me to see anything of importance inside or beyond them.

I shuddered. Due to past experiences, I really wasn't too fond of big houses.

When I finally got used to it all, I looked over at a smirking Shane.

"What?" I demanded.

He shrugged, still smiling. "You're awestruck. It's cute."

I resisted the urge to smack him. "I'm not awestruck."

He lifted an eyebrow.

"I'll admit that you're house is beautiful. And it's a lot bigger than I thought." I looked around again, taking it all in once more.

"Yeah," he whispered in my ear, "not everything is as it seems. Don't you know that?"

I jumped slightly. I hadn't known he was so close to me. The closeness made me uncomfortable. I walked away and into the blue room.

He followed me in and told me to sit down.

I lowered myself clumsily into a comfy looking chair. He sat on the sofa across from it, still smiling at me.

"You're house really is beautiful," I told him.

"Thank you."

We sat in silence for a few moments. I stared up at the glass ceiling that stretched into this room as well. The day had considerably brightened and now the sky was a beautiful blue.

"This room and the other by the front door are the only two with glass ceilings," he explained.

I looked back at him and smiled. "I bet they're nice at night."

Shane just nodded and stared at me, all traces of amusement gone from his face. I swallowed back the fear and decided to ask him what I'd planned to.

Of course, he sidetracked me.

"Can I show you something?"

I blinked at him.

"It's just upstairs," he added, smiling again.

"Okay." I followed him warily up the stairs, which I tripped on only once.

The upstairs was, of course, very beautiful. It was pretty much just a long hallway with gorgeous gold wallpaper, and yet it was still stunning. All of the doors to the rooms were closed so I couldn't see anything else.

He led me down and opened the very last door on the right.

"You better brace yourself," he warned me, his face somber and foreboding.

I shivered, regretting my decision to come upstairs.

Before I could say or do anything, he swung the door open.

At first I couldn't see anything. There were no windows and the room was dimly lit by only one small lap, sitting on a desk in the corner. I could make out a sheet-less mattress lying on the floor and various articles of clothing strewn lazily around. As my eyes adjusted, I could also see a very large technology-related object sitting on the opposite side of the room.

"Come on," Shane said, taking my hand and leading me in.

To my surprise, he brought me to the immediate right just inside of the room and I saw there was another door. He opened it swiftly, reached in his arm, and turned on the light.

A large glass room appeared with posters of different bands decorating the walls. The bright light also lit up the room we were still partially standing in and I could see more than before. It was obviously his bedroom and there were more posters on the walls.

"This is my room," he said waving his hand to the mess beside us, "and this is my mini recording studio."

I looked at the room he indicated and noticed a big microphone. The thing I thought looked like it was related to technology now glowed in the light with multicolored buttons all over it.

"You sing?" I finally managed. We were still standing between the two rooms.

Shrugging, he walked into the glass room. "A little. Music is my life."

I just nodded. He reached over to a little table that sat on the side and shuffled some things around on top of it.

"Don't be mad," he said, "but I took the liberty of making you a little present."

"Thanks, but I don't like presents," I whispered.

My heart was pounding. What was going on? Why was I here? What had been my plan? I couldn't remember any more. I was only aware of this strange, beautiful boy in front of me in the warm and fuzzy room.

He handed me a CD and stared at me intently. "You do now."

His eyes glowed and swirled like they had in English. Again, I felt soft and open somehow. I didn't know what was going on but it felt good. I saw him smiling and I was actually happy that for some odd reason, I had made him smile.

"Okay," I said weakly. I let out a deep breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.

He looked away from me then and turned off the light, walking back into his dark and messy bedroom.

"You want to watch some TV or something?" he asked casually, stretching his arms above his head.

I blinked my eyes a couple of times and leaned against the wall.

It had happened again! I had, of course, stumbled on yet another person in life who could dazzle me and force me into submission. How was that possible?!

I didn't answer and instead stared down at the CD in my hand.

"What is this?" I asked, my voice thick with confusion.

"A mix I made for you. You'll like it, I promise. It's a sin for someone to hate music, especially someone like you."

Those words were all it took to snap me out of my temporary daze. I looked up at him and narrowed my eyes. He looked shocked but I didn't buy it for a minute.

"I want to ask you something," I said.

He looked at me and motioned for me to continue. For a moment, I lost my nerve. I realized how vulnerable I was, here in this house, in his room. Maybe this wasn't such a good place to have a confrontation. But I had made up my mind to do this and I wouldn't let myself back out now.

"Why did you care so much about what happened during lunch?" I managed to whisper. I had wanted to yell it out, but the fear was too great.

His face crinkled with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You asked me what happened," I explained.

"And?"

And what?

Suddenly, I was feeling very foolish. I had acted pretty bizarre in the cafeteria. And the only reason no one else had confronted me about it was because they knew why. They knew why I was forever changed and broken. Shane didn't.

And yet… there had been the eye thing. Something nagged at me that that had not been normal.

"Bella?"

My eyes met his and again, his eyes tried to dazzle me. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and looked down at the floor.

"It just seems like you're interested in me for some weird reason and I don't understand why. What do you want from me?"

Silence ensued for a few moments. Hesitantly, my eyes slid up to his. He was just staring at me, his eyes now a flat blue.

Finally, he spoke to me in a soft, low voice.

"I find you very interesting, Bella. That's all. I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable. I just thought you seemed lost and… well, I'm lost, too. I thought we could bond over it together." He shrugged then and smiled sadly at me.

Remorse and embarrassment flooded through me. I was the stupidest, most ridiculous girl on the face of the planet.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Me either," Shane said softly. "Maybe that's why I find you so interesting. You look like a wounded puppy."

He walked over to me and slowly touched my face. His hand was warm as it slightly caressed my cheek.

"What happened to you? What broke you?" he asked. It was the same question as yesterday. I shrugged and he sighed. "You can tell me."

I saw myself floating in his eyes. It dawned on me then that his eyes were in fact the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. I had been so delusional, so desperate to find more evil coming my way that I'd looked too much into it. He just had nice eyes. That was all.

"I'm not interesting at all, Shane," I murmured. "Trust me."

"What makes you think that?" he asked softly. "Everyone else finds you interesting. I can tell."

I snorted involuntarily.

"What?" he asked.

"Not everyone."

The words hung over us for a moment before he nodded knowingly.

"Who doesn't find you interesting, Bella? Who broke you?"

I closed my eyes at his realization that something hadn't broken me; it was someone.

"Open your eyes and tell me."

Against my better judgment, I opened my eyes to his probing ones. Before I could stop myself, I uttered the one name I wished I'd forget.

"Edward."

"And who is this Edward?" he pressed. "Does he go to our school? I'd be more than happy to march up to him tomorrow morning and tell him just how interesting I find you."

"He's gone," I said sadly.

"Did you love him?"

I just nodded.

"I'm sorry," Shane whispered.

I pulled away from his hand and sighed.

"I have to go," I muttered lifelessly.

"Okay," he nodded slowly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I didn't respond as I turned around and fled.

I pulled into my driveway and groaned when I realized Jacob's car was parked in the street. It seemed as though everyone was hell bent on making me hurt as much as possible lately.

I reluctantly entered my house and smelled pizza.

"Bells!" Charlie yelled from the kitchen. "Where have you been?"

"With a friend," I answered sullenly.

He came out of the kitchen with Jacob in tow. "We ordered pizza when you were gone."

I just nodded.

"Bella…"

I looked at Jacob then and my heart lurched at the sight of him. He looked so incredibly sad. I felt a pang of remorse, realizing it was me that had made him so sad. Sure, he had said a heartless and mean thing but he had only said it for my own good.

"Hi, Jacob," I said, trying to sound as warm as I could under the circumstances.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked me. He started walking to the front door. "Bye, Charlie. I'll see you next time."

"You got it," Charlie mumbled, distracted by the game on TV.

I followed him outside and shivered a little at the cold. Jacob watched me, concerned.

"I won't keep you out here long."

I just nodded.

"I wanted to… I wanted to apologize for what I said. I don't know why I said it. I certainly didn't mean it. I just-"

"Jake," I said, holding up a hand to cut him off. "It's okay."

"No, Bella, I-"

"Stop," I interrupted softly. "I'm sorry for being such a brat. You were right. What you said was right. It was the truth. The truth isn't always so nice, is it?"

"Bella," he said plaintively, "I'm so sorry. Even if it is true, I shouldn't have ever said it."

"Maybe, maybe not," I said, "but it doesn't change the fact that it's true. And it doesn't change the fact that you said it for my own good."

His eyes softened at my words.

"Thanks, Bell. You're still coming with me tomorrow, right?"

I forced a smile and nodded.

He grinned back. "Thank you."

I shivered again and he frowned.

"You should get inside," Jacob said, backing away from me. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said.

I watched him leave before I turned back inside, desperate to go to sleep.

I walked into school the next day, hoping I could avoid Shane for at least the majority of the day.

I didn't want to look into his eyes. He knew too much. He saw how hurt I was and, for some reason, it was more upsetting that he saw it rather than everyone else in town.

The day went smoothly, though slowly, and I had found a little bit of peace somewhere along the lines.

I was grateful when I noticed Shane wasn't sitting at the table. I sat down across from Angela with a big sigh of relief.

She looked at me questioningly and I just smiled. I felt elated that he was gone. I couldn't prove that he wanted to do me harm. As a matter of fact, I didn't think that at all anymore. I had misread the signs. Me and my stupid intuition had once again steered me in the wrong direction.

I felt slightly guilty at thinking of him that way. The truth was he had gone out of his way to be nice about me and he appeared to truly be concerned about me, no matter how unexpected and unwarranted that may have been. He was, all in all, a very nice guy.

I was still relieved he was nowhere to be seen. I felt overjoyed that I was rid of him and his knowing eyes.

But I spoke too soon.

Shane was sitting in his usual desk in English, doodling in his sketchpad. He didn't look up at me as I plopped down beside him. He didn't speak to me at all, thankfully.

I was glad that he had apparently decided I wasn't worth the effort or the interest. It was better he figure that out now than start a friendship with me and decide someday, like he did, that I wasn't worth it.

The bell rang and I leapt out of there, though I was certain he wouldn't have tried to talk to me anyway.

When the final bell of the day rang, I was more than ready to leave. I looked forward to going home and maybe even taking a little nap.

I thought of what I was going to make for dinner as I walked to my car, but a tall figure distracted me.

Shane was leaning against the car, smiling sweetly at me. I felt like I was going to throw up.

I made my way over and stopped a foot away, my eyebrows arched.

"Could you give me a ride?" he asked.

I just stared.

"I'm sorry we didn't talk in English," he said suddenly, running his hand through his hair. "It's just that I thought you were mad at me or uncomfortable around me and I just wanted to give you some space."

I couldn't speak.

"Honest to God, I'm not just using you for a ride!" he added, his voice slightly louder than necessary.

Lauren walked past us just then and snickered. I glared at the back of her blonde head.

"Bella?"

I looked back at Shane and shook my head. "Get in."

"You're the best!" he exclaimed, getting into the car.

I'm so stupid. A stupid lamb, once again.

"Do you want to come in?" Shane asked. We were parked just in front of his house.

His words took me out of my fog and I looked over at him, surprised to see him there. We had been sitting there in silence for a while and I hadn't even realized it. As a matter of fact, we were quiet during the whole drive.

"Okay," I heard myself saying.

We went up to his room again and he shut the door behind us.

"Have a seat," he said, grinning.

I looked around amongst the mess and decided the dirty mattress was my best option. Awkwardly, I sat down on it and tried to make myself as comfortable as possible.

He was humming to himself, flipping through some pages on his desk. I looked over and saw a photo hanging on the wall of Shane and what appeared to be his father. A thought occurred to me then.

"Shane, where's your father?"

His back stiffened. "He usually goes out during the day."

"Oh," I said, not believing him.

Shane barely mentioned his father. And come to think of it, I hadn't seen many things that could possibly belong to him around. The house was spotless and all of the doors remained closed. The house was practically silent and empty. I hadn't seen any other rooms.

"I don't have the best relationship with him," he elaborated, sitting down next to me. "He likes to go out a lot of the time. That's when he writes."

"So you're home alone all the time?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'm used to it. I actually prefer it this way, believe me."

"Why?"

Shane smirked at me. "Look who's curious now."

I blushed and lowered my eyes. He was right. I doubted he was suspecting me of somehow threatening his life.

"My father isn't… the best of company. Let's just leave it at that."

"Shane," I whispered. Then I stopped myself. It was wrong of me to ask what I wanted to ask.

"What?" he asked. When I didn't answer, he poked me on the arm. "Ask me or tell me whatever you want, Bella. I'm a good listener. And I don't shy away from hard questions."

I looked up into his eyes and lost myself in them again. I tried to remind myself not to look because it only made me dizzy but I couldn't help it. It was like glancing up at the sun; you knew it would hurt you and blind you, and yet its beauty and temptation made you cast up a curious look every now and then.

"Bella?"

"You said you were lost yesterday." Shane nodded. "Why are you lost?"

He sucked in a deep breath of air. He walked up and started to pace the room. I immediately regretted asking him.

"I'm sorry," I whimpered. "That was wrong of me. I flipped out on you when you asked me and then I had the nerve to-"

"Shhh," Shane said, kneeling down so that his face was level with mine. "I'm just trying to figure out the best way to tell it."

He stood up again and paced for a few more moments. Finally, he stopped and faced me. He heaved in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Bella, I don't know how to…"

He didn't continue.

"Go on," I whispered, urging him to continue. "You can tell me."

His eyes open then and they literally appeared to be lit from within.

"Alright," Shane breathed, "I haven't been completely honest with you, Bella…"