A/N: I am so, so, SO sorry that this chapter is coming out like two months after my last update. I would have had it out last month but I had so much to do for school that I had no time to write except for a sentence or two. And then I was too depressed over spring break to do anything productive, but things are slowing down a bit now so I made myself finish this chapter today. Anyway, I will try to get the next chapter out soon, like maybe even late tonight if I can, but I will try to have a second update this month to make up for nothing last month.

I apologize if there are mistakes in here, and if you find something let me know so I can fix it. Thank you and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, but I do own this storyline.

Chapter 5: Mixed Signals

I missed another day of school after my strange dream before I returned. I finally decided that stress was the cause of my strange sickness so I invested in some antacids to use until I got over it. I also planned on buying a "safe" lunch today at school.

My first class went by uneventfully, thankfully I didn't miss too much work, but then when I saw Edward in English, I started to feel sick again. But that was probably from the nerves. After I talked to my teacher about what I missed I sat down in my seat, on the opposite side of the room as him. I stole one more glance at him, unable to control myself, and he was staring at me, and I couldn't read his expression. Was it concerned?

The bell rang and I peeled my eyes away from him. I was thoroughly confused, now. Why would he be concerned about me if he didn't want me? Our English teacher cleared her throat to get the class's attention.

"Alright class, it's your favorite day, we're changing seats today!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. There was a combination of disappointment and excitement apparent in the class, but I was indifferent. I honestly couldn't care less about where I sat, since none of my friends were in this class.

She made all of us stand up and move to the front of the room, and we were allowed to sit as soon as she called our names. I was one of the first names she called, so I was on the opposite side of the room as before and in the third seat from the front. I zoned out as she called off more names, absentmindedly tracing patterns on my notebook cover with my finger.

"Hi, Bella."

His voice startled me, sending feelings of discomfort and pleasure through my body. Hesitantly, I looked to my right to see Edward sitting right beside me, his beautiful green eyes bright with happiness. But why?

"Hi Edward," I replied softly, trying to not make eye contact. I was far too captivated by those eyes.

"Do you feel better?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

I nodded, the words getting caught in my throat. "Uh, yeah, it was nothing bad or anything. I don't think I was even contagious, because Charlie and Renee didn't get sick," I rambled, immediately stopping once I realized how much I was saying. I blushed heavily and looked back down at my desk.

I heard Edward sigh, like he was trying to figure out how to word something. "Bella," I looked up at him and made the mistake of meeting his eyes. Now I couldn't make myself look away, no matter how hard I tried. "Um … I just … I wanted to say that –"

"Alright class," Edward and I both jumped at the sound of the teacher's voice, "Now we can begin!"

I tried to pay attention to what she was teaching, but I kept looking at Edward out of the corner of my eye, and I swear a few times I caught him staring at me. That didn't make any sense to me, but once I gathered up the courage to look straight at him and he met my eyes, giving me a warm smile. I smiled back, that familiar fluttering feeling invading my stomach, but I turned away fast. It was much too soon to let myself feel something for him again.

I kept my eyes away from him for the rest of class, even when I felt his gaze burning into me. As the bell rang, and I all but sprinted out of the classroom. I needed space. It was too soon for me to be around him. I was just going to get hurt again, I knew that.

But when I heard his voice calling my name, I turned around, no matter what my head was telling me to do. But my heart reached out for Edward, wanting to pull him closer, wanting to let him back in. It just didn't know when to quit.

"Bella, can I talk to you?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. He only did that when he felt uncomfortable or embarrassed. I just didn't know how I made him feel that way.

"Um, yeah, if you can say everything on my way to class." I replied, beginning to walk towards my Health class again. It was certainly not my favorite subject, but I either had to take that this year or gym. And honestly I hated gym class even more.

He nodded, falling into place at my side. I couldn't deny how right it felt to have him walking with me, though I know he doesn't feel that too. "That's fine, I have to walk this way too."

Edward was silent for a few steps, probably choosing his words, before he began to speak again, "Bella … are you … I mean … are you over what happened – no, that doesn't sound right …" He started mumbling incoherently to himself, which only left me more confused. I stopped walking as we reached my classroom, and he stopped too, unwilling to give up yet.

"Bella, I … I feel terrible about what happened between us. I know this sounds selfish but … I really, really want you as my friend again. I understand that you need time, but …" he paused, exhaling deeply, "I really miss you," he whispered, looking down at his feet.

I know I should have felt surprised, and a part of me did, but at the same time his words were exactly what I expected to hear. "Edward, I miss you too, but … it's too soon for me," I replied, forcing his head back up to meet his beautiful green eyes. "I just need more time, so I can be sure that I won't get hurt again."

Edward sighed, and nodded. "I expected that," he said, "I'll still wait for you, though." He reached out and brushed my cheek so lightly that I wasn't sure it happened, then he was gone. I went inside the classroom and sat down, my mind in a completely different place.

While I'll admit that I have very strong feelings for Edward, sometimes he really irritates me with his words. I know he has good intentions, I think, but lately he's been making me feel either hurt or confused every time we speak. Honestly I have no clue what he truly wants from me. I guess that's why I keep my distance from him, to protect him as well as myself.

I barely heard the bell ring signaling that class was over. After a quick trip to my locker to grab my math books I walked to my trigonometry class, one that I shared with Jasper Hale, Rosalie's younger brother as well as one of Edward's best friends. He gave me a small smile and wave which I returned before sitting.

Jasper truly was a good guy. He had dark blond hair that was barely neater than Edward's. He and Rosalie shared the same big, blue eyes, which would have told me they were related if it wasn't for their shared last name. He was tall and gangly too, like a typical adolescent male. But he was smart and sweet, and I had to credit Alice for having good taste.

The math teacher passed out a worksheet at the very beginning of class. It was a review of things we had gone over before winter break just before our exams, and by his frustrated explanation I guess most of the class failed this portion. I didn't think that trig identities were that hard, but I guess I'm just smarter than most.

He said that we were allowed to work with a partner if we wanted, so I simply stayed in my desk and listened to the shuffle around me. As I was reading over the first question I heard someone near me clear their throat, so I looked up to find Jasper hovering awkwardly over my desk.

"Um, do you want to work together, Bella?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, sure." While I wouldn't say that Jasper and I were best friends, I did work with him occasionally in class like right now.

He smiled slightly and sat down in the desk in front of mine, turning around to work on mine. As I was trying to prove the first problem, I saw Jasper look up to ask me a question.

"Hey, today's the eleventh, right?"

"Yeah, I think so …" I trailed off. Was it really the eleventh of January? I guess it made sense, as a lot of time passed ever since Edward and I –

Wait, the eleventh? I started counting mentally backwards, then again, and I continued until I was sure that I hadn't made a mistake.

My period was supposed to come around the first. It was now ten days late. I had never, ever missed one before, not even during the first few years. Was this whole thing with Edward stressing me out so much that it caused me to be nearly two weeks late? Or was it because –

No – that wasn't it. That couldn't be it.

"Bella, are you alright?"

Jasper's sudden concern snapped me out of my daze and I re-focused my attention to him. "Sorry, I zoned out," I muttered, only half-lying.

I spent the rest of the class trying to concentrate only on working with Jasper on math problems, but in the back of my mind I was still fretting over being late. I was trying to convince myself that I was just extremely stressed, and that if there were a few more weeks without anything, then I could worry.

But I was already worried, even though it had to be nothing.

Jasper and I finished our worksheets a few minutes before the bell, so that left extra time for my mind to wander. First of all, there was no way that I could mention my concern to anyone. There was no point in worrying my parents or my friends over nothing. Second of all, if things turn out to be … more serious than I would like, who could I tell then? I can't mention anything to Edward, of course, since I have no idea how he feels. My parents would call Carlisle and Esme for sure. Alice would tell her parents, and Edward, and probably everyone else in Forks. So I guess that leaves me with Emmett and Jacob.

Luckily I shouldn't have to worry about that.

After what felt like forever the lunch bell rang. I walked slowly to the cafeteria, my mind still buzzing with my discovery. I sat down at my usual lunch table – with Jacob and a few of his friends – and I started looking through my purse for my wallet. As I was looking I felt eyes on me again, and as I looked up I was met with beautiful jade eyes. Any oxygen in my body was exhaled as I saw Edward leaning down towards me.

"Hi Bella," he said, his voice low among the loud chatter in the cafeteria. But I still felt like we were the only two people in the room. Being around Edward still did that to me.

"Hi," I replied. My wallet suddenly wasn't important, and neither was eating lunch.

He broke eye contact with me and looked down at the table, mumbling to himself. "I … um … actually, never mind …" He walked away before I had the chance to reply, and once again he left me completely baffled.

Mindlessly, I found my way into line with my money and I left with just an apple and a bottle of water. My appetite was completely gone, but I knew I had to eat something. By the time I returned Jacob and two of his closest and oldest friends, Quil and Embry, were devouring huge piles of food. One of the many mysteries about boys was where all of that food went.

Jake saw me coming and swallowed too quickly, nearly choking on whatever he was eating. "Hi Bella!" he exclaimed before eating again. I received waves from Quil and Embry, but the acknowledgment was plenty.

I ate slowly and tried to read more of the book Alice lent me. I still couldn't understand the hype, but maybe that was because I couldn't focus on the words on the page. I saw them but I couldn't remember what I had read a few seconds later. Eventually I just gave up, threw my apple core away, and started to watch the hands on the clock move.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Jacob asked, sounding obviously annoyed. He moved to sit next to me and draped his arm around my shoulders.

"Nothing," I replied, shrugging his arm off of me. The poor kid just couldn't take a hint, especially since he just put his arm right back.

"Come on Bells, you can tell me!"

I sighed, turning to face him. His deep black eyes bore right into mine, and I knew he would be able to tell if I was lying to him. Jake could always do that. "I'm just really, really confused," I told him honestly.

He gave me a look – one that said that he didn't completely believe me – but let the topic go. He went back to talking to his other friends while I started to stare at the clock again. My conversation with Jake took up about five minutes, so there were only a few left until it was time for my Spanish class. I tried to kill the time by listening in on the boys' conversation but when I heard car parts that I didn't know what they did, I stopped trying.

Lunch was dismissed right after I gave up, and I went to my locker to grab my Spanish book. I really wish that Forks offered more languages, but it was a really small school after all. It's not like I was terrible at the language though, unlike most people in my class.

I arrived in the classroom before most people, as usual, and sat in my socially-isolated desk. I really wasn't shy, I just didn't like people in my grade. All of my close friends were either older or younger than me.

Everyone else started to file in, and the bell rang just as the last few people were reaching their seats. Unfortunately for me, a substitute teacher walked in which meant that I would be stuck listening to catty gossip for an hour. So I pulled out another book I decided to read, since Alice's was too romantic for my taste, and began to read. However, I had only gotten to the second sentence when I heard something that caught my attention.

"Lauren, you are never going to believe this!" Jessica whispered harshly, "I heard that Edward Cullen hooked up with someone that wasn't Tanya over winter break!"

My breathing stopped, and I nearly looked up from my book. But if I did, that would seem very suspicious, so I decided to pretend to keep reading and kept my ears open for the conversation to continue.

"Jess, come on, you can't be serious," her blonde friend Lauren replied, "We all know how those two feel about each other."

"But Lauren, Tanya told me that she found a condom in Edward's trashcan! And that she didn't sleep with him!"

I felt my ears turning hot, a blush becoming evident on my cheeks, so I buried myself further into my book. I knew that Edward wouldn't have told anyone about the two of us, but what if these girls found out anyway? They certainly weren't the type to keep it to themselves.

"Are you serious?!" Lauren half-screeched, "Who else would Edward sleep with?"

"I honestly don't know. Maybe Kate, since Tanya seemed pretty pissed at her all day today. But that might just be for skipping out on her New Year's Eve party … or maybe she doesn't even go to our school. The Cullen's do have a lot of family friends, and they might have daughters ..."

"Whatever, Jess. But what did Tanya say to Edward about that?"

"She didn't say anything. But she did tell me that she might not go back out with him this time."

"Wow. That would be really weird … Tanya and Edward not being together … ever again."

"Yeah, it would be like me and Mike not dating, or you and Tyler ..."

I took that as my cue to stop listening, since they were saying nothing that was of interest to me anymore. As long as they didn't ever find out that Edward and I had been together, then that would make it so much easier for me to get over him. I didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of rumors in addition to the way I felt right now.

I got to read a little more before the bell rang, and it was finally time for my last class of the day: biology. It was also the second class that I had with Edward. My stomach trembled a bit at the idea, but at least I wasn't his lab partner or anything.

As I was entering the classroom I felt a warm, familiar hand on my wrist, sending waves of imaginary electricity through my veins. I turned around and was met with Edward's eyes. It irritated me that no matter what happens between the two of us, I still lose my breath whenever I look into his deep green eyes.

I heard the air leave his chest as he stared back at me, almost like he had forgotten what he had pulled me aside for. He closed his eyes for a moment and for some reason that saddened me, which also bothered me. I really should not be feeling this way about him.

"Um, Bella … I … I just wanted to let you know that we changed lab partners in bio, and you're working with me now."

Of course.

"Uh … okay. Thanks for letting me know," I replied, trying to hide my emotions. A part of me was extremely distraught at this, but there was that other part that was excited and hopeful. Like being lab partners with Edward would make him love me back.

The hopeful part almost shut up at that, except for the fact that Edward's hand was lingering on my arm. I started to inch towards the door and he finally noticed and let go, but he didn't miss a beat and held the door open for me. Why couldn't he either love me or just forget I existed? Lingering somewhere in the middle wasn't helping either of us.

I followed him to our lab table, near the back of the room, and the two of us spent the hour in silence. Today was filled with note-taking rather than lab work, and I was thankful for that. Taking notes was rather annoying, but right now it was a lot better than trying to figure out Edward's intentions with me.

He's been acting so strange around me today, especially after I rejected his friendship request. Did I actually hurt his feelings by needing more time? But that just didn't sound right, because he wouldn't have said that what we did was a mistake if he cared that much.

Wow, no wonder my period's late. It must be because of all of this stress.

The last bell of the day finally rang and I walked as quickly as I could out of the classroom. Edward's locker was nowhere near mine so biology was the last time that I would have to see him until tomorrow. My heart ached just thinking of him but I wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that I had to deal with him again or if it was because I couldn't see him for another day.

I took a deep breath as I started to load my backpack with homework for the night. If I wanted to get rid of this stress then I had to stop thinking about Edward. It must be pretty bad if it was throwing my whole biological clock out the window.

Because that was the only explanation for that.

At least that's what I had decided to keep telling myself.

I shook my head as if to get rid of the other possibility and starting walking out to my truck. There was no way that could happen to me. Edward and I had been very careful. It almost wasn't possible for me to have that other option at all, no matter how suspicious it seemed.

Somehow I had ended up parked in my driveway, so I turned off my truck and headed inside. Doing my homework would surely get Edward out of my head, as well as all of those other thoughts that shouldn't be there.

A/N: Two months for that ... I really don't think that this is my best work, but uneventful chapters are hard for me to write. They are necessary though. The next one will be interesting, though.

Anyway, please review, add this to your favorites or alerts, whatever you like to do. As long as you enjoy reading this I really don't care.