'Life is hard'. I didn't care what the others thought about us two but I was pretty sure my life was harder than theirs. Doing commercials, travelling from here to there it's annoying and exhausting.

What's worse is having a mother that only wants you to make money. She chose us because my brother and I were beautiful and had that sort of charisma in front of the camera.

When we arrived the L.A. axe she was all about tons and tons of hugs and kisses and "I missed you too, darling!". She had managed to put on this show, pretending like we were one big happy family (as always) for her friends and…cameras. That's it, my mother had officially gone nuts! It appeared she was doing a sort of reality show called Madison Hale knows best.

She kept smiling and I returned a hypocrite smile. I was used to play this make-believe game.

She didn't ask us how things were, she only did what the cameras wanted to see: her busy life, wonderful son and daughter that were studying in Forks so that they could concentrate in their studies since they had gotten tired of the night life...She had even taken us going shopping in L.A. for Christmas! She had never done this.

I remembered that when we were young she asked our nannies to take us and choose what we wanted and now that we had our credit cards she didn't bother doing anything!

And there was obviously a Mr. Hale: my dad…Always too busy for us. Always too famous, too rich to look at us. The only occasions when he actually wanted us were in his magazine photos and dinners.

They really didn't care about us. We had been living in Forks for two months and neither Mom nor Dad called or answered our phone calls to know how we were handling. The only thing they did was upgrading our bank account.

At least the other students had someone waiting for them at home. Someone to comfort them. Even though Consuela was very caring and nice and Esme and Carlisle were impeccable but they weren't my parents. They had their lives, their kids...

"I'm glad I have you by my side Jazz…"

"You know they love us their special way…" He insisted.

"Yeah, right. As if…"

We got out of our private plane and someone came to help us with our stuff. We were driven out of the airport in a limousine.

Our chauffer parked the car in front of our house and took our things out of the trunck. 'Where's Consuela?' I thought. She was usually waiting for us in the front door with a big smile on her face.

I searched for the front door key in my purse and entered our house. The lights were turned on and I could hear Consuela's loud voice coming from the kitchen. It seemed she wasn't alone. I faced my brother but he also had a confused expression.

I was preparing to open the kitchen door but Consuela was already there, showing a big grin.

"Niños! At least you're here…we missed you!" She came to us to give one of her big hugs.

I looked around: Emmett was the first one I noticed. He had his typical sweet smile on his face, hands on the pockets. He came to hug me, and kissed me softly in the cheeks. It wasn't till then that I realized how much I had missed him. I had missed his presence, his protection, his kindness, his friendship.

"Rose…you don't know how much we missed you…!" He grabbed my left hand and squeezed it gently against his.

Alice was also there, smiling to my brother. She embraced him graciously and Jazz beamed.

"I'm sorry niños interrupting this happy moment but I have to go. My family is waiting for me…The diner is in the microwave. If you need anything don't hesitate and call me. Hasta mañana!"

"Bye!"

"Bella wanted to come and say hi but she is ill and Edward is with her. You don't know how everyone missed you two! And you didn't tell us your mother was also connected to the fashion world…!" Alice complained.

"And we didn't! I think she is doing a sort of reality show…" I forced a smile. "It's called Madison Hale know best ."

"You and I will have to talk about that later. I'm so gonna tweet about this! For now, let's move because everybody's waiting for you at Tyler's! C'mon, I have a new dress for you Rose…!"

"Oh, I'm sorry guys but I really don't feel like going…You have no idea how tired I am…You can go, I'll stay here."

Okay, that was so not me, but I really didn't want to go. I wanted to stay here, have a bath and do whatever I wanted to. That week had been exhausting since we had to shoot several times, make-up try-outs, public appearances, Paris Hilton's party, Covergirl meetings…

"Okay…" she looked disappointed. "I'll have to cancel everything then."

"No, you don't have to Alice. You can go with Jasper. I'll stay here with Rose…I mean if she doesn't mind."

No, I didn't mind Emmett's company. Actually, I wanted him to stay with me. "I'm fine Jazz…" I assured my brother." Em's here…"

I took them to the front door, assuring Alice that she didn't need to cancel the party, that I was fine and stuff.

Also, I wanted them to go alone. I noticed how my brother looked at Alice and I knew that it was a matter of time they would start dating.

I closed the door and took Emmett upstairs, to my bedroom. "You can wait here for me while I have a bath, 'kay?" You can turn on the TV if you want to."

Emmett POV

Wow. I was alone with her, no one was around. And I was in her bedroom AND she was in her bathroom showering.

I didn't feel like watching TV so I just sat on the border of her bed and looked around. She had tons of pictures in her bedroom. I picked up the closest one: Rose with her friends on the beach. There were two guys kissing her cheeks as she smiled and ten girls and boys posing on the sand for the pic.

Other photo: Rose wearing a short dress holding a cup, smiling. You could tell that picture had been taken in a party and that she was dancing. Again, tons of people surrounding her and more guys dancing with her.

She smoking in her BMW with her friends, she sitting on the floor at night looking too drunk to walk, shopping, prom queen, New Year's party…everything with her friends and brother. You could tell she was popular in Miami. She also had a picture with the Miami Ink guys in the beach and another one with them in a party. 'Aren't they too old for her?'

Yet, in spite of all those photos there wasn't a single picture of parents. Curious.

I waited for her for about one hour but I didn't mind. I would do everything for her. She opened the bathroom door combing her long blond hair carefully. She had already dried it and she looked soooooooooooooooooooooooo HOT!

"Sorry but I usually take a long time bathing…"she excused as she came to sit by my side.

"You look tired…"I noted.

"It's hard being a star…" she laughed. "And it sucks…"

"It sucks? You have the world in the palm of your hand…You know everyone in Miami."

"Miami? You haven't seen anything yet. Paris, Kim Kardashian, Kat Von D…I've been to Victoria Beckham's house cause my mother is great friends with her…"

"Wow…" I managed to say. "You're big girl."

"See that pile of magazines? I'm in every single one of them. As I told you before, I used to do modeling stuff but I cut everything out when I was about thirteen years old."

"Why didn't you continue? I mean, if it's your dream….

"I wish it was only that."

"How come you wish it was only that?"

"It's complicated…it hurts for me to do this kind of things…I always feel more and more rejected and…it's hard."

"What are you…?"I didn't understand what she was trying to say.

"My parents. They don't care about me and my brother. They never did and they never will. It's complicated…You don't know how lucky you are…"

She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it anymore so I put my arm around her waist. I needed this kind of contact with her and it had been the only way I had found to express how I felt about it since I wasn't very good with words.

Rose turned and leaned over me, hugging me tightly. Her perfume invaded my thoughts, her warm touch against my skin, her breasts against my chest made it hard for me to concentrate.

She didn't realize how those things and movements sent the wrong message to my body.

"Oh Em…you have no idea how much I missed you…teddy bear."

Our eyes met, and became conscious how much she cared about me. I was the person she trusted the most and she was everything to me.

"You know I'll be here for everything you need Rose."

"I know that…I'm glad we're friends."

It hurt me, when she said friends. She didn't like me the way I liked her. But I wouldn't give up. Hope is the last to die.

She got up and turned her stereo on, searching for a nice CD to listen to. I followed her and put my arms around her waist.

"Do you like this one?" She turned her face to me and she didn't look bothered by our proximity.

"Black Eyed Peas are actually one of my fave bands."

She started laughing. "That tickles me, you know?"

"What?"

"Your breath tickles."

"Really?"

"Stop that!"I laughed out loud and she managed to get away from my arms, turning to tickle me back.

"I'm sorry but bears usually don't have tickles." I mocked.

I started walking backwards as she tried to make me laugh somehow. I grabbed her wrists and she pushed me in the direction of her bed. I fell over it and she fell with me. I mean, she fell OVER me.

She stopped laughing and her gaze met mine. I saw something in her violet eyes, but I couldn't tell what it was. She started blushing, not knowing what to do.

I didn't want to ruin our friendship but I didn't know how to pull that situation off. Her hair was all around me making it difficult for me to think rationally. My body was commanding me: I put my hands on her waist and kissed her cheek, smiling calmly.

Rose put her hands on my chest and looked at me confused. Then, she came closer me, with a strange look in her eyes.

I didn't hesitate and rolled over her, so that I could be the one on the top. She didn't resist and put her arms around my neck, making my face closer to hers.

I kissed her lips gently, tasting their sweet flavour. She closed her eyes, and kissed back intense and fiercely.

Then inexplicably she stopped and faced me. Her bewildered expression, her red cheeks…everything made her look like a Goddess. But yet, she seemed…I don't know. It just didn't feel right.

That was when I realized she loved that Josh-guy and that she looked at me like a BFF or whatever girls call it.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. I got up and stood there, just looking at her. "You've got to go." Rose sat cross-legged on her bed, hiding her face between her hands. "I'm sorry. You know I have Josh and you love Jessica. We can't do these things. It's not what friends do."

"I know you…"

"You know nothing! I'm not feeling well…This should have never happened."

"You're right. I don't know what we were thinking about. You know I don't love that way Rose. Just friends."I forced a smile.

"Yeah…I know that."

I didn't wait a second more. I didn't want to feel more humiliated so I got out of her bedroom, and ran out of her house as fast as I could.

She didn't stop me. I had ruined it all. Now, there was no way back. The only thing to do was keep distance between us. That would be the best thing to do till we got things straight. Till my ego was healed.

Rosalie POV

'What was I thinking about?'

I shouldn't have left things go so far. He had miscomprehended all of that. He was such a nice guy…yet he had left his hormones control over him...

"It's always the same thing…every guys always get a little bit too excited about me…I thought he was different."

One thing was for sure: it would be awkward to be around him for some time…Eventually we would get over it of course but I had noticed his obvious embarrassed when had left and I knew he was a proud guy. Too proud to easily put what happened behind his back.

I lighted up a cigar and smoked it to help me calm down. There was nothing I could do by now. I just needed to wait for him to come to me.

Monday morning. Another boring school day. There was no sun, no heat. Only rain, grey clouds and wind.

Unfortunately Newton looked fine and that annoyed me. Emmett should have broken… 'Never mind…'

That day, the Rugby Team's Captain and I didn't talk to each other has I had expected. He didn't even face me. He was all cozy with Jessica, kissing each other as if he was trying to prove me something.

And as I predicted he was trying to get over that awkward situation his own way: ignoring me. Not that I minded…Ok, I did mind it all 'cause he was my best friend in Forks but I just couldn't play the weak role. So I acted like it didn't affect me.

I also had to invent an excuse for me not having to go study with Emmett after classes. I was pretty sure Esme didn't buy my pretext but she didn't bother me with questions. Apart from that, everything was fine.

The Cheerleading thing was also on a good path. The only thing that was really irritating was the fact that the Rugby practice was at the same time as ours and that I had to hear Emmett shouting orders on the field.

"C'mon guys, focus! What the hell do you think you're doing Jessica? Paige, watch out your feet. Dakota you need to work on your back flips! Sven, Dawson, Heath and Allan don't do that! You need finish like this or else Shannon will get injured!"

The coach was really angry and whistled. "Okay everyone. What did I tell you? You gotta leave your problems outside that door. The instant you come to our practice you need to focus! Rose, you're their leader. You have to inspire confidence and have to be responsible for making the whole thing work. That's why the girls chose you! Jessica, I need to see that spirit you used to have. Boys, more energy and strength. You have to be able to do the all sequence! Now, everybody 50 push-ups and then we will have to go over the flick-flacks and back-flips. Rose I need you to stay a little bit longer for us to work your flexibility. Now go go go! What the hell are you waiting for?"

That practicing had been really hard and I was pretty tired but I managed to have strength to do my Algebra's homework. After all the tutoring Emmett gave me it was easier for me to understand things but I still missed his presence and his jokes.

I missed my friend…I needed him by my side.