CHAPTER TWO

I dreamt of Alice Cullen that night. I dreamt of her arms wrapped around me and her lips pressed against mine. Until that day I never believed in love at first sight. Now, I knew there was such thing as love at first sight because I was in love with her.

That morning I got ready for school. I walked outside to get in my truck & I saw a yellow Porsche sitting in front of my house. Alice hopped out of the driver's side of the car. "Can I give you a ride to school?"

I smiled at her. I'd never deny her anything. "Don't you normally ride with your brother in the VW Beetle?"

"Yea. It doesn't stand out like my Porsche does."

"Then why are you driving today?"

"Because I want to drive you to school. Now hop in."

"I have a truck."

"But you will ride with me anyways."

"That I will," I smiled & got in the passenger's side. I turned to look at Alice. "Why are you so confident all the time?"

"I have no reason not to be," she said looking at me & grinning.

As much as I love her smile I shouted, "Eyes on the road!" That's when I noticed how fast we were going. "Alice, slow down!"

She laughed. "You sure are panicky."

"I'm not ready to die."

"I'd never let anything happen to you," she whispered seriously.

"I trust you."

She gave me a small soft smile. "You really shouldn't." Her voice was so small, I barely heard it.

"I don't care if I should or shouldn't. I just know that I do." I really truly knew that I trusted her.

"You're friends with Jacob Black aren't you?" she asked me as we got out of her car.

"No. Is he Billy Black's son? My dad bought my truck off of him."

"Oh. I see. So Billy is your dad's friend?"

"Yes," I nodded as I reached out to grab her hand. I wasn't sure why I did this. We were just friends. I dropped my hand quickly.

Alice took my hand. "Don't ever feel self-conscious with me. Ever."

I grinned. "Never. So why did you want to know about the Blacks?"

Alice shrugged. "So you aren't interested in Jacob then?"

I smiled. Was Alice jealous? "No." I gave her hand a slight squeeze. "I'm not interested in any boys."

She grinned. "So is there a girl you are interested in then?"

I bit my lip & shuffled my feet a little.

"You promised not to be self-conscious."

"I know. Yea there is someone that I am interested in."

Alice's pace slowed. We still had time before class started. "Do I know her?"

I giggled. "It's a small town Alice. "

"Tell me."

"No."

"Come on Bella." She drew out.

She was pulling at my heart. "I…" I wasn't sure how I was going to finish that sentence but thankfully the bell rang. "Gotta go to class," I breathed out. Without realizing what I was doing I pulled Alice into a hug then ran off to class.

I turned to look back and Alice was just standing there smiling at me. She saw me look at her & shouted. "You WILL answer me Bella! See you after your class."

I grinned. Today was going to be a good day. English went by quickly probably because I was focusing on seeing Alice. Eric got up as the bell rang and asked. "Can I walk you to class?"

Before I could answer Alice was by my side. "I'm walking her to class. We need to talk."

I grinned at her. Eric was stuttering. "Um… Yea, okay."

"So where to?" She asked me.

"Government in building six." I replied. "You really don't have to walk me there."

"I want to Bella. Will you sit with me at lunch? I want to get to know you."

"Yea. Yea I will. Of course. Only if I can get to know you too."

"So who is it that you like?"

"You aren't going to let that go are you?"

"No. I have my suspicions Bella but I need you to confirm them for me." She looped her arm in mine. "Please."

"Do you promise you won't freak out?"

She grinned even bigger than before. "I swear it Bella. I swear it."

I bit my lip again. "You."

Just then the bell rang. Son of a – of all the rotten luck. Here I am letting her know how I feel about her, sort of and the bell rings.

She was smiling. "See you at lunch Bella." She called as she took off.

I walked into my class sighing. Well she still wanted to see me at lunch. That was a good sign wasn't it? Even if she wasn't interested in me, she was still willing to be my friend. I sat down in class. Government sucks. I stared at the clock. When lunch finally came I nearly ran into the cafeteria. I heard Alice's voice. "Mind your own business, Edward."

"It's not right Alice. You know it isn't. I can't read her."

"Good. I am glad that you can't. I don't want you to."

"Alice… It isn't safe."

"Screw you Edward! You don't control me! So just –" Alice spotted me. "Bella!" She grabbed my hand. "Come on! Let's grab some lunch & sit down."

I would do whatever she asked of me. We quickly grabbed our lunches and sat down. I saw Jessica throwing us dirty looks. Mike & Eric looked jealous.

Alice sat across from me. I stared at her. I wanted to ask her what she thought about what I told her before class. However I was kind of scared.

"How long have you liked girls?" Alice asked.

"Since I was born, I guess. I mean you are kind of born that way, right?"

She grinned. "Yea I guess so. But I mean… When did you know?"

"When I was little, I always noticed women."

"Did you come out to your parents?"

"I don't date. So I don't see the point. But they don't pay too much attention to me anyways."

"Why don't you date?"

"No one has caught my eye I guess."

She smirked. "Until now."

"Until now." I agreed. This was it. I needed to know how she felt about that.

"I guess I'm the luckiest girl in the world then."

"I don't know are you?" I asked caressing her hand with my thumb.

She grinned. "Most definitely."

I supposed she would never tell me exactly how she felt. I thought about asking her.

"I like you Bella. I like you a lot. I probably shouldn't."

"Why not?" I was excited that she liked me but scared about why she shouldn't like me.

"It complicates things."

"Life is complicated."

She laughed. "Yes I suppose so. So is death."

"We have biology next period. We better go."

"I'm not going."

"Why?"

"Skipping is good for the soul every once in awhile."

"Well, I can't skip."

"Suit yourself." Oh, how I wanted to skip. Spend the day with Alice. Instead I took off to class.

The teacher started talking. "There is going to be a blood drive next week so I thought you all should know your blood types." He started to describe what we were going to be doing. Oh no. My stomach plummeted, not blood typing. Mr. Banner pricked Mike's finger to show everyone what to do. That's when it hit. The nausea. I could smell the blood. Mr. Banner looked at me. "Are you okay, Bella?" I shook my head no. I couldn't speak. If I did I might throw up. "Will someone please take Bella to the nurse's office?"

Of course Mike volunteered. I leaned on him but told him to keep his hand in his pocket. We were outside & suddenly Alice was there. "Are you okay, Bella?"

Mike said, "She got sick in biology & she didn't even get her finger pricked yet."

"I'll take her to the nurse."

"I'm supposed to…" Mike started.

"I got her." Alice said. She looped my arm around her neck then with strength you wouldn't think a girl her size would have she picked me up into her arms. "Go back to class Mike." She smiled at me.

Mike looked disgruntled but went back to class anyways.

"He has a crush on you," Alice mumbled.

I looked up at Alice & smiled. "He's not my type." I was starting to feel better. Being in Alice's arms felt right.

She giggled. "So the sight of blood makes you sick?"

"No. It's the smell."

She scrunched her eyebrows. "Humans can't smell blood."

"I can," I muttered. "It smells like rust… and salt." I wondered what she meant by humans can't smell blood but I didn't want to think about it. The thought of the smell brought the nausea back.

"Hmm…" she smiled at me. "You are very interesting Bella." She opened the door to the nurse's office. "Bella got sick in biology," Alice stated as she set me down on the nurse's table. "They are doing blood typing."

"Oh. We get some every year. How are you feeling Bella?"

"Nauseous."

The nurse looked at Alice. "You can go back to class."

"I'm supposed to stay with her," Alice said matter of factly.

The nurse smiled at Alice. "Okay. Well Bella I think you will be okay. You can go back to class."

I guess my face showed how that thought made me nauseous because she added. "Unless you'd rather go to your next class?"

Alice cut in. "Bella has gym next and I'm not sure she is up to it. Can I take her home?"

"Yes. That's probably a good idea. I will clear that with the front office. Do you need to clear your next class too Alice?"

"No. I don't have another class. Thank you." I leaned on Alice as she led me to her car. "So back to your house?" she asked.

"Do we have to?"

She smiled. "No Bella. I'll take you wherever you want to go."

I smiled back at her. "I want to just sit & talk with you. We can do that right?"

"Oh Bella, I want to spend as much time with you as possible."

"Then come to La Push beach. Jessica & her friends mentioned it yesterday."

She tilted her head. "When are you going?"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh. I'm sorry Bella. I can't go. I do want to spend time with you though."

I nodded. I believed her. She sounded so sincere. "Tell me about your family."

Alice smiled. "You want to know about my family?"

"I want to know everything about you."

"Well, Carlisle & Esme adopted me years ago. Edward, Jasper & Emmett are like brothers to me. Rosalie is like a sister. We are a close family."

I smiled at her. I loved to listen to her talk. She had such a musical voice. "What are your interests?"

"Art. I love to draw."

"Do you sing?" With a voice like hers, how could she not sing?

"How about you tell me about yourself?"

"Oh. Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Why did you move to Forks?"

"My mother got married to Phil."

"Oh. Was Phil mean to you?"

"No Phil is a nice guy, he just travels a lot. I wanted mom to be able to be with him."

Alice smiled. "You are so giving."

I laughed. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are Bella. Don't argue with me."