Hello my faithful readers I am now officially 17 (like Edward). I am at my cousin, Jake's, house right now so I am bored out of my mind and decided to write. And I know this is off topic, but I don't really care (most people skip author's notes anyway) but THE DARK KNIGHT WAS THE BEST MOVIE I'VE SEEN up to date. Oh my gosh. I saw it at the midnight opening at the theater closest to my house and loved it so much I went the next day to a different theater and saw the TWILIGHT TRAILER! It was amazing. I squealed. I'll talk to you guys more down at the end.

I knew that Edward was suspicious. I could tell even just by the way he looked at me. He knew something was up and he was going to want answers sooner or later.

I had dodged the surgery question. He seemed reluctant to drop it, but he did nevertheless.

I figured I could definitely trust him. Edward was a phenomenal person and friend. I knew that I could trust him to not tell anyone. He really seemed like the kind of person you could count on. And I had only known him for two weeks.

I was still worried about his reaction to the information, however. I would understand if he freaked out. I wouldn't expect anything less, actually. I just couldn't stand it if he didn't want to have anything to do with me ever again afterward. He was too good a friend to let go of. The first real friend I'd had in…forever.

But then, being the good friend that he is to me, he deserved the truth. If he was going to comfort me when I felt upset, he should know exactly what it is that I am upset over.

As you can see, it's a tough situation.

The Wednesday after the big party, I was supposed to go over to Alice's house to work on a project we were assigned in History class.

Luckily, my mother never heard word of what happened at said party. She wasn't even suspicious when Alice's car stayed parked outside of Edward's house all night since she, too, slept over at the Cullen's house afterwards. I was very grateful of my mother's uncharacteristic unobservancy (if that is actually a word).

I was also glad that my friends believed that I didn't know I was drinking alcohol at the time. Of course, I don't think any less of those who did drink by choice; I, personally, didn't want to be known as that way, however.

"Hey, Bella! After school, do you wanna just meet me outside by the flagpole and you can ride with me to my house so we can work on our project? That way we don't have to worry about getting together later," Alice called to me when she entered our History class on Wednesday.

"Sure, Alice. I just need to find Edward and let him know that I won't need a ride home today," I told her before the teacher started the lesson.



As soon as school got out, I met up with Alice on the way out to the parking lot to find Edward.

We got about halfway to Alice's yellow Porsche when I heard Edward's voice behind me.

"Hey, Bella! Wait up!" I turned to see Edward jogging over to where I was standing. I felt a smile take over my face involuntarily.

"Hey, Edward. I was just looking for you. I was actually going to tell you that I don't need a ride home today. I have to go over to Alice's to work on a history project," I said the last part with noticeable distaste.

"That research project?" he asked, looking at me with sympathy.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Alice and I were assigned the Cuban Missile Crisis. We have to stop by the store and grab a poster board on the way, too. I'm not looking forward working on it at all,"

He smirked. "Well, I'm just glad I don't have to do one,"

I scowled at him. "You're just lucky that you have Mr. Davis and not Mrs. Carvini."

"Indeed. Anyway, are you and Alice going to pick up Chase, or do you want me to?"

SHIT! I cannot believe I forgot about Chase.

I can't go to Alice's now. I have to get Chase from daycare, and I can't bring him with me. We wouldn't get anything done! It looks like I'll have to wait for my mom to get home.

But she doesn't get home until dinner time. And that's too late to start a project. We would only have a couple of hours to work, and that's not enough.

I abruptly turn toward Alice and wave her over to where Edward and I are standing. She jogs over to meet us.

"What's up, Bella? Ready to go?" she asks with a smile on her face.

I frown. "I'm sorry, Alice, but I don't think that I can get together after school. I completely forgot about Chase. I have to pick him up from daycare," I told her sadly. I had no idea when we would be able to find time to work on it, but I knew it couldn't be now.

Alice laughed. "You forgot about your little brother?"

I nodded.

"Oh, Bella," she replied, still chuckling.

My frown deepened.



"I'm sure it's not a problem. Edward can do it for you, right Edward?" she asked, turning her attention to Edward for the first time.

Edward nodded his head profusely. "Absolutely, Bella. I really don't mind. I'll be happy to go pick him up. It's no trouble."

I looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on any plans you have. Alice and I can just work on the project another day."

He put a hand up to stop me. "Don't be ridiculous. It's me we're talking about. When do I ever have after school plans, unless it involves going over to your house to watch a movie or something?" he inquired while chuckling a little at himself.

I couldn't help but crack a smile. "You're right. You are a pretty boring person…"

"Okay, if you two are done flirting with each other, Bella and I need to go. We have a project to start on!" Alice cut in, sounding enthusiastic.

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks at the mention of flirting.

"Are you sure you don't mind picking up Chase for me?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I honestly don't. Go. Work on your project. I'll hang out with Chase until you or your mom gets home. We'll have lots of fun," he grinned his crooked grin at me again.

Thank God for Edward and his kind nature. I don't know what I would do without him.

"Thanks again. Oh, and the spare key is hidden—"

"Under the rock in the garden," he cut me off, still smiling.

I smiled back at him and made my way with Alice to her car.

When we arrived at Alice's house, I was impressed but not surprised. Her house was big, probably as big as the Cullen's, but I was not surprised at this because, both families are related after all.

"Come on, Bella! We can work on the project up in my room. I have a computer, and I think I might even have a left over poster board from a past project. If not, we can always make a quick trip to the store," Alice yelled out to as she rushed upstairs.

I followed her to her room. I had never seen anything so…pink. Seriously, the walls were pink, the bedspread was pink, the accessories were pink, everything was pink!



Alice moved the furry rug in the middle of her floor to the side so we would have a place to spread out our stuff.

"Okay, stay right here. You can go ahead and get on the computer if you want, to do some research. I'll just go downstairs and try to find that poster board!"

I did as she said. I got on and Googled the Cuban Missile Crisis. I had found some pretty good websites with adequate information when Alice returned about five minutes later.

She walked back in her room holding a poster board and a little tray with snacks on it.

"Hey, I could only find a lime green poster board. Is that okay with you, or would you prefer a different color?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Lime green is as good as any other color, I suppose. Might as well use it if you have it."

She grinned and set it down on the floor. I turned back to the computer to print out some of the articles I found.

"I brought us up some popcorn and pink lemonade. Would you like some?"

Without turning away from the computer, I replied, "Yes, please. That sounds really good right now. I'm starving."

Alice put a bowl of popcorn and a glass of lemonade in front of me and grabbed one of each for herself. She then pulled over a lime green butterfly chair from the corner of her room to sit next to me at the computer. (teehee. I just got one of those for my birthday from CourtneyCullen and had to use it in this story. Thank you Courtney! ILY!)

"Did you find anything good while I was gone?" she asked as she sat down.

I scrolled down on the webpage I was on, as I answered her, "I found some of the causes and effects, but that's about it. It'll probably take a while to find all the information we need."

We spent the next few hours finding more information, printing said information and pictures out, and then gluing them on the poster board.

When we felt good about the amount of work we had accomplished, we decided to call it quits for the day. Alice offered to decorate and add the finishing touches on it herself and I gladly accepted. I was not interested in that kind of thing.

"Okay, so now that we're done for today and it's about," she checked the clock on her nightstand, "6 o'clock, would you like to have some dinner with me? Usually if my parents aren't home for dinner, I go over to Edward and Emmett's to mooch food off of them, but if you 

stay we can heat something up. I'm sure we have a pizza or something," she looked at me with hopeful eyes.

I agreed mostly because I felt bad that Alice's parents weren't around-an apparently common occurrence- and I couldn't leave her to eat by herself.

We went downstairs and found a frozen pepperoni pizza in the freezer. She stuck it in the oven and then turned to me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"So. What's going on with you and Edward?"

I just about spit out my water.

"Nothing. Why would you even ask? He's just a really good friend," I explained a little uneasily.

"How good of a friend?" she winked at me and I blushed.

"Alice. Edward is the first true friend I think I've ever had. I know you think there's some kind of unspoken feelings that I have for him, but I can assure you, there aren't any. I'm not going to mess up our friendship. Besides, even if I did have feelings for him, it wouldn't work."

"Why not?" she challenged, raising her eyebrow.

And here I am in this situation again.

"It just wouldn't," I answered curtly.

Alice seemed to pick up on my unwillingness to talk about it and just looked down at the floor, deep in thought.

She then walked up to me and grabbed my hand and in a much quieter, serious tone, she said, "Bella. You're Edward's best friend. He told me in those exact words," I felt myself smile when she said this. I was glad the feelings were reciprocated. Well, those feelings at least, "and he's way happier when he's around you than I've seen him in years. I should know, I am his cousin after all. I know you are too shy and probably too…disheartened by your ex to tell Edward or anybody else for that matter, the way you really feel. And I know that you think your feelings wouldn't be returned if you did decide to admit them, but don't jump to conclusions. I know he likes you back."

And with that, she went back to the oven to wait for the timer to go off.

She had hit the nail on the head. Except maybe the last part (he couldn't possibly like me). Though, I would never admit it to her.

We ate dinner in peace; she had gone back to her normally bubbly mood and was chatting about Jasper and how he was taking her somewhere special for their anniversary this weekend.



When I had finished my pizza, as I was putting my dishes in the dishwasher, my cell phone rang.

I pulled it out of my pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bella," Edward's velvet voice rang through the speaker.

"Hey Edward! What's up?"

"Just called to let you know that I just left your house. Your mom came home. Just wanted to let you know everything's okay. Chase and I had a lot of fun today," I could hear the smile in his voice.

I, in turn, smiled too. "Oh, thank you so much, Edward. I really appreciate it. If there's anything I can do to repay you, let me know."

"Ooh. I'll have to think hard about that one."

I laughed. "Okay, well I better get going."

"Wait, Bella. There was actually another reason I called. Do you want me to come pick you up? I know you don't have a car and I know Alice usually goes to bed pretty early to get her beauty sleep," I could practically hear him roll his eyes.

"Um—"

I was cut off, however, by Alice, who seemed to overhear Edward's question, "Oh, Edward, that would be great! Thanks!"

And before I could get a chance to respond, Edward replied, "Okay, I'll be there in about ten minutes. See you."

There was no point in responding; he had already hung up.

Alice waiting with me in her living room for the ten minutes it took Edward to drive to her house. As soon as he pulled into her driveway, I rushed out of the house, saying goodbye to Alice, and jumped in the passenger seat.

"You're like my knight in shining armor today. You pick up and babysit Chase for me all afternoon and then pick my carless ass up from Alice's house," I teased after putting on my seatbelt.

"You're right. I should demand payment," he said with mock seriousness.

We looked at each other and bursted out in laughter.



"So, did you two get much done on your project?" he asked politely.

"We got almost the entire thing done. Alice said she would add some finishing touches."

"So, in other words, she'll add some glitter and sparkles?" he asked, completely serious.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, probably."

He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and I grew uncomfortable under his gaze.

"What?" I asked self consciously, while wrapping my arms around my waist, an old habit I had.

"Nothing. It's just; you seem to be in a better mood than usual."

And he was right. I was in a very upbeat mood for a reason unbeknownst to me.

However, my good mood quickly disappeared when we pulled up to my house.

Sitting right behind my mom's Tahoe was a very very familiar car that I never thought I would see again.

Edward noticed my discomfort.

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked; looking back and forth between my wide eyes and open mouth and the car.

I couldn't respond. Instead, I rushed out of the car.

"Bella!" he called after me.

I just slammed the door.

I walked in the doorway and saw two adults standing in the living room, on opposite sides, one looking furious and the other looking desperate.

The furious one was, of course, my mother; and the other one was—

"Dad?!"

Woohoo! Cliffhanger! And so the drama begins. Kind of. Okay, I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner. I had like, half of this written and it was lost when my computer froze and shut down. It took me forever to remember what I had typed before. And I still don't think I got all of it. Anyway, Breaking Dawn comes out in like…8 days! That's so freaking exciting for me. I will not update while I'm still reading it. Though, I suppose most of you won't care. You'll all probably be reading it too! Okay, so no beta this time. We have conflicting schedules. Majorly. . Well, I guess all I have to say now is:



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