A/N: So I'm having so much fun writing this story. And I love all the reviews and feedback. I'm glad you guys responded so well to the last chapter. Enjoy :) You guys are great.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.. sadly.

Chapter Four

EPOV

My kitchen had always felt more like a hospital ward to me than anything else, and it had nothing to do with the fact my father was a doctor. The room was just too big, too sterile looking and had that faint smell of peroxide to it. My mother pottered around me, tucking pots and pans away into various cupboards, the maids would just have to rearrange them later, and whistled while she worked, trying to exude the vibe of a Stepford Wife, but failing miserably. I ate my breakfast in silence, still waiting for the dreaded question that always managed to work its way into our conversations. Someone up there decided to put me out of my misery.

"How was therapy yesterday, darling?"

I didn't look up from my bowl of cereal.

"I didn't go."

I felt the air around me freeze as my mother stopped in her tracks, directly in front of me. "You-didn't-go?" Esme repeated slowly, as if the words didn't make sense together.

"Right," I shrugged, and put my empty bowl in the sink. I side stepped my way around her frozen form, and walked over to the long rack on the wall, that held my monogrammed ties. I picked the first one I saw and tugged it loosely around my neck.

"I wasn't aware your therapist had signed your release forms?" My mother's deceivingly polite tone sounded from somewhere close behind me. I quietly groaned as I turned around to face her, before I pointedly shrugged.

"Don't sweat it, Esme. You've been busy."

My mother narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips; we both knew how much she hated it when I addressed her that way. Then she sighed as she took a step closer to help me with my tie. "Edward, your father and I love you. We just want what's best for you."

"There's nothing wrong with me," I said exasperatedly, and pushed her hand away. "I don't need the fucking therapy."

"Of course there's nothing wrong with you," Esme replied angrily, as if I had insulted her personally. Then she hesitated, "but after everything that happened last year… well, it wouldn't hurt you to talk to someone, would it?"

I was grateful that she had enough decency not to mention my notorious breakdown. My mother self-absorbedly thought that it had something to do with her and my father's status in the town. Like I somehow couldn't handle having two famous parents, but the truth was... when I had found out that Bella was with Emmett, well, I had gone a little crazy for a while.

But I was completely fine now. A fact no one else around me seemed to realise.

"Where's Carlisle, mom?" I said irately, changing the topic. "Didn't you two get back last night?"

My mother put her hand on her hip and gave me her infamous 'that's none of your business, Edward Anthony Cullen' look. When I didn't immediately back down, she turned her head away from me and spoke to the floor. "Your father decided to stay a little while longer."

Translation: "Your father met someone and would like a few more days of uninterrupted orgasms."

"Of course he did," I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes. I turned away from her and walked over to the door; pausing when I reached it. "You know, maybe you two should be the ones in therapy... Just a thought."

I didn't wait around for Esme's response. I hastily grabbed my car keys from the bench and stormed out of the house. I walked down the vast sweeping lawn as fast as my legs would carry me. There was no way in hell that I was going back for my school bag and other non-essentials; I would just have to make do without them today.

It was only when I was outside the wrought iron gates, with the cold street air swirling around in my head, that I realized I'd forgotten my brother.

***

"I'm in love." Jasper announced matter-of-factly, when we were both seated in my car. I put the keys in the ignition and the engine roared to life; the sound welcomingly drowning out the discomfort in the air.

"You're not in love," I replied dryly, already bored with the direction of conversation. I switched the stereo on to one of my favorite stations. Jasper ignored me and continued. "I think Alice could be the one..."

"I think you're delusional."

"I'm serious, Edward. She's the most amazing girl in the whole world." He turned his head to look out the window, and sighed. And I mean actually sighed; like in those old black and white romance flicks. He fucking sighed.

"Shit, Jasper, how many bowls did you smoke this morning?" I turned my whole body in my seat to check his eyes.

"Oh right," Jasper scoffed, shaking his head as he changed the classical station to something preppy and horrible sounding. "I forgot about my little brother's golden rule again."

I gave him an incredulous look and began backing out of my space. "And what rule would that be?"

"Because she's single and available, I shouldn't want her. I should only go for taken girls that I can't have," he mused with a grin. "Did I get it about right?"

"Your wit is astounding," I murmured distractedly as I fiddled with the stereo.

Jasper rolled his eyes and changed the station back. "But that's what this is about..." He paused to accentuate his next word. "Bella."

I turned the crappy music off altogether and concentrated on the road. "Not everything I say is about Bella."

Jasper laughed. "Really, little brother? Because I haven't heard anything but her name, come out of your mouth in months. Ever since the-"

"Don't," I warned him, my tone threatening.

Like Esme, my brother knew better than to mention the events of last year.

"I wasn't going to," Jasper continued smoothly. "I was just going to say that it wouldn't kill you to talk about something else for a change."

I felt a smirk twitching on my lip. "I didn't realize I had been neglecting topics, Jasper. What is it you would like to talk about?"

Jasper ignored my mocking tone and shrugged. "You could ask me about Alice? You know, actually play the caring little brother role for once. "

My grip on the steering wheel tightened . "You're one to talk," I scoffed, and shoved the gearstick into fourth. "You didn't even show up last night! I waited at that bar for a-fucking-hour."

"You had Bella with you didn't you?"

"She was with Emmett."

"Oh..." Jasper ran a hand through his hair. "Guess I really fucked up then. Sorry."

"Yeah, you did."

"It couldn't have been that bad?" He asked uneasily.

I scoffed as I thought back to the events of the previous night.

Sitting all alone at the bar.

Bella and Emmett talking and laughing.

Pity drink in front of me.

Making a deal with the devil.

Twenty thousand dollars…

Fuck.

"I wouldn't say that it was the best night of my life," I replied nonchalantly, not paying much attention to the road. When my eyes did refocus, I quickly took my foot off the accelerator and shifted down a gear; but not before accidently running through a red light. I heard a few angry car horns sound behind me.

"See..." Jasper mused hopefully, completely oblivious to our near-death-experience. "That means it couldn't have been the worst night of your life, either?"

I shook my head as more memories came flooding back to me…

A hand shake.

A potential break up on the horizon.

Imagining Bella in my arms.

All mine.

Together.

Finally.

"No. It definitely wasn't the worst night of my life."

"That's great, little bro. Glass is always half full, right?" Jasper grinned.

I ignored him and we continued the rest of the drive to school in silence. Jasper turned the stereo back on and I let the crappy pop music wash over me without argument. Anything would do as a distraction at this point.

"Turn left here!" Jasper said suddenly, grabbing the steering wheel and causing the whole car to lurch sideways. I suppressed a growl and after hitting his hand away, looked over at the street he was indicating. I felt my eyes narrow.

"Why here?" I asked suspiciously, throwing on my indicator. My brother just smiled and relaxed back into his seat.

"We're picking up Alice."

APOV

I stood in my tiny room in front of the floor length mirror, trying to decide on a scale of one to ten, just how much of a disaster it would be to go out into public in a uniform like this.

Forks Academy definitely didn't spare any expenses when it came to dressing their students, I thought miserably, as I tugged at the stupid neck tie attached to my shirt.

The things you had to do…

I was saved from making anymore decisions by the sound of a car horn honking outside. I grabbed my coat and skipped down the stairs and out the front door with a shout of goodbye to my foster parents. The cold air hit me at once and I hurriedly searched for the car.

Edward's silver Volvo was parked crookedly along the curb and he didn't say a word to me as I climbed into the backseat next to Jasper, who was looking more handsome than I'd ever seen him; even if the plain white school shirt he wore didn't do his body underneath any justice. Jasper slowly looked me up and down before letting out a low whistle.

"You pull off the school colors better than any girl I've ever seen, babe." He smiled, tugging me into his arms.

Edward sneered from the front seat. "I brought our maids uniform for you from home, just in case you started to feel a bit out of place today."

"Edward," Jasper warned, his tone threatening. "Cut the bullshit and be nice. I would like it if you and Alice could start trying to get along."

"I thought that was being nice?" Edward replied innocently.

I rolled my eyes and flipped him the bird in his rear view vision. Edward laughed coldly and Jasper let out a defeated sigh.

I turned to look out the window as we drove in silence the rest of the way.

***

"What, no valet?" I joked as we stepped out of the car into the school parking lot.

Jasper laughed and slowly shook his head before shooting a pointed look at his brother, as if begging him to make an effort with me.

"Don't look at me. I don't speak her language." Edward held up his hands and shot me a look of disgust; obviously to make sure I understood the double meaning to his words. Before I could even retaliate, his attention was diverted to an attractive looking brunette roaring into the parking lot on a motorbike; a pair of huge muscled arms wrapped around her waist.

I watched Edward's eyes instantly light up and in the same second, scowl, as he took in the guy surgically attached to her. Amused, I continued to watch as the girl broke out of her boyfriend's grip and parked the bike. They both jumped down and exchanged a kiss before the guy turned around and jogged off.

The brunette girl suddenly looked up at us, and smiled when she spotted Edward. She waved to him and twisted around to put her helmet down before making her way over. I felt Edward's body visibly tense up beside me and I glanced back and forth between the two of them until it finally clicked. I smiled deviously.

This had to be Bella.

"Hey," she smiled rather breathlessly as she reached us, and quickly leant up to give Edward a kiss on the cheek. He flinched slightly when her lips touched him but it wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone that wasn't carefully studying him.

I felt my grin grow wider on my face.

This was almost too perfect.

"Hi Bella. I'm Alice." I sang sweetly, stepping forward to hug her.

She stared at me perplexedly for a second, probably trying to work out how I knew her name, but quickly returned my smile and bent down to hug me. I looked over her shoulder to where Edward was standing and saw that he was visibly fuming. He shook his head at me and took a step forward, looking like he was about to forcibly rip us apart.

"Alice, what are you-"

"Don't worry, Edward. Bella and I are going to be great friends."

He stopped in his tracks and glared daggers at me and I smirked back as Bella and I broke apart from our hug. Bella grinned down at me and then turned back to Edward with an amused smile on her face.

"I don't know about you, Edward. But I like her."

The look on his face at those words will be forever imprinted on my brain.

I continued to smile innocently at him. Edward eventually forced a smile through clenched teeth."You have no idea."

Bella laughed and kissed his cheek again before turning back to face us. But before she could say another word, something caught her attention and she turned her head. I twisted around to see what she was looking at and saw that it was a stretch limousine pulling into the parking lot. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips. First the fancy Volvo, then the motorbike, and now this…

What was with these rich kids and their ostentatious grand entrances?

When the occupant stepped out however, I felt my jaw drop.

EPOV

You've got to be fucking kidding me…

We all turned and stared, open mouthed, at the blonde that had stepped out of the limo and was now sashaying her way across the parking lot. She was wearing the school uniform but I'd never seen anyone look less like they belonged in a school yard. Much less a school yard that was forty fucking degrees out.

Her skirt was hitched up so high that the bottom of it barely covered her ass and her blouse so tight, it looked like she'd stolen it from a freshman. Her hair was tied in plaits with tiny white ribbons on the ends and her matching white socks were knee high. She even had a fucking pencil tucked behind her ear.

She was like a guy's walking wet dream. Only it felt more like a nightmare. I glanced nervously around the group to see what they would make of her. Their expressions were very much the same as mine had been, all staring at her as she approached in open mouthed disbelief. My brother's eyes in particular looked like they were about to pop right out of his head.

I wasn't exactly sure why I was all that surprised to see her here. True we hadn't exactly discussed the finer details of our arrangement. But it was Rosalie Hale after all… I shouldn't have expected anything less than disaster.

"Sup homies? I'm Rosalie," she winked when she reached us. And then added, "the new girl." As if that should do to explain her I just rolled off a porn set ensemble. I narrowed my eyes and silently prayed.

Just kill me now, God.

Rosalie ignored me and immediately turned her power on Jasper, sensing he was the weakest link. "And what's your name, handsome?"

She wasn't wrong.

"Jasper." My brother replied smoothly and took her hand. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, mam," he grinned while giving her a kiss. She grinned back down at him while Alice just stared open mouthed. Jasper frowned and shook himself out of his trance, before quickly moving back to Alice's side and wrapping his arms around her waist.

Bella being Bella just laughed and stepped forward with an amused but confident smile. "And I'm Bella. It's nice to meet you, Rosalie. Welcome to Fork's Academy."

Rosalie nodded and gave her a tight lipped smile in return, before pointedly looking around at the rest of us. I ignored her. But Alice seemed quite thrown by her which surprised me, given that she and Rosalie were practically the evil incarnation of one another, just in different bodies.

When Alice realized I wasn't going to speak, she stepped forward. "I-I'm Alice," she said, with a determined show of bravery, not offering her hand.

I'd always suspected that Rosalie would be better off as a lion tamer than a barmaid.

Rosalie smiled at her pleasantly before turning to me expectantly... like I somehow had a hand in this fucking train wreck in progress. "And what about you, hot shot?"

"Edward," I gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Sorry I didn't catch that." Rosalie smiled sweetly. "What was your name?"

I forcefully matched her smile. "Edward," I said clearer, before stepping forward to shake her hand and bending down low to whisper in her ear. "Watch yourself, Hale."

"No need, Cullen," she whispered back. "I'll have enough eyes on me already I think." With a smirk she straightened up. No one said another word.

"Oh, shit, I gotta go." Jasper said suddenly. "The senior class have a test next period and I don't have a fucking clue what's going on in there." He planted a quick kiss to Alice's head and waved at the rest of us before he walked off. I stared at his retreating form feeling envious.

"And shoot, that reminds me!" Bella clasped a hand to forehead. "I'm supposed to be giving a welcoming speech to the juniors right now." She shot me an apologetic grin before jogging off too, leaving me alone with the two lionesses.

I just looked back and forth between them, let out a helpless groan of defeat and walked away.

If I'm really lucky, the two of them might decide to just eat each other alive.

APOV

As soon as everyone was out of sight I grabbed Rosalie roughly by the arm and pulled her aside. "What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed when we were both safely concealed behind a dumpster. Rosalie smirked and pulled her arm out of my grip.

"Well it's nice to see you too, little one."

I sighed. "Rose, it's not that I'm not thrilled to see you it's just… well I'm not exactly thrilled to see you."

She rolled her eyes and pulled a tube of lip gloss from her purse. "Relax junior con artist. Watch and learn. Maybe you can pick up a few tricks."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm here on a mission." Rose smacked her lips for extra effect and tucked the lip gloss away. Then she laughed. "You actually think I'd come to this place dressed like a preppy school girl for shits and giggles?"

"Well…" I trailed off, staring at her dubiously. It wouldn't have been the strangest thing she'd ever done for kicks. "No - but, I mean... how did you even afford all this?" I asked momentarily dazed, waving my hand up and down her ridiculous costume. Rose grinned.

"I suddenly found myself with a bit of extra cash."

My eyebrows rose in mock disbelief. "I didn't think waitressing paid that well?"

"Neither did I," Rose winked.

'Ugh!" I threw my arms up in the air in frustration. "Rose, you have to get out of here. If you blow my cover-"

"Alice, would you chill out." She looked at me sternly while she fluffed her hair and pulled out a compact. "I'm just going to be here for a few days to get what I need done, and then I'll be gone. No one will suspect a thing." Rose stopped talking as soon as she caught sight of her reflection in the compact mirror, and I knew I'd lost her. I quietly groaned and crossed my arms over my chest.

Rosalie Hale and I were as different as we were the same. Both like Julia Roberts in a way. Except of course, that I was Julia Roberts from Notting Hill while she was more like Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman. I was a great actress. She was just a whore. Whichever way you looked at it, this couldn't end well.

When she finished fixing herself in the compact, I sighed. "And I suppose you're not going to tell me why you're here?"

"Sorry cutie." Rose shook her head. "I've been sworn to secrecy. But I will tell you one thing. That guy you had wrapped around your little finger before was hot as hell."

I nodded. "His name is Jasper," I offered a bit reluctantly. "He was the other guy's brother."

Rose's expression was hard to read. "Cullen?"

"You know him?"

"No," she shrugged a little too quickly. But quickly redeemed herself. "That-" she pointed her head towards a big muscled guy "-is my type of man."

I looked a little closer at the guy she was indicating and recognized him at once. I felt my eyes narrow. "Bella's boyfriend?"

Rose nodded and licked her lips. "The things I would do to him if we were alone in the classroom. I'd let him play teacher and student with me."

I shook my head in disbelief. I didn't doubt for a second that Rose was probably speaking from experience. The girl never did have much of an imagination.

"So how is this going to work exactly? You're just going to walk around posing as a student here?"

"Exactly." She replied smugly, like it was the most genius plan in the history of the world. I groaned and quickly looked around to make sure that no one was listening to us. This con had disaster written all over it...

"Fine but, Rose… you can't let anyone suspect that we know each other. Or we'll both get caught out. It's the reason I've been avoiding the bar."

"Huh. That explains why I haven't seen you there in so long." Rose replied nonchalantly, now digging around in her purse for something else. When she caught my fearful expression she rolled her eyes. "Oh relax, high and mighty. I won't tell anyone anything about you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"But…" Rose licked her lips contemplatively. "I need you to help me with something first."

I groaned for the hundredth time in our conversation but quickly nodded my head. Rose smiled sweetly.

"I need both Bella and her boyfriend's class timetables."

A/N: The plot thickens... Your reviews are like music to my ears :) Better than that even.. they make me type faster