It didn't make any sense.

I'd only had one serious relationship, but I knew that most of them didn't work that way. At least not the successful ones. Either Edward was rather dumb, or he wasn't even trying. It seemed like my plan was just turning around and biting me in the ass.

It also didn't make sense that Edward would transition so fast from female repulsion to head over heels for a girl. The last time that I had talked with Edward about anything relating to girls, he was still set on every girl being a selfish pig-headed little bitch. With the random exception of me. If this continued, he was going to give himself whiplash.

Which was why at first I didn't believe the rumors. The rumors that Edward had actually kissed Jessica. It felt like middle school. Everyone was acting like one kiss was such a big deal. But I guess that if you thought about it, it was. Edward Cullen, who had made himself the ultimate unreachable guy on campus, had succeeded in asking a girl out, and now managed to commit a public display of affection. It was probably going to make the evening news on top of it all. The population of Forks seemed to have no life.

I still didn't know if I believed it or not until I saw Jessica's face in Trig. She didn't even seem to try to make conversation, still obviously in a daze. The class was oddly quiet without her usual chatter, which signaled that something was clearly out of the ordinary. She was constantly checking the clock the entire period, probably anxious to see Edward again. The strange things was that this time-check had somehow become a habit of mine, too. I must have been hanging out with Jessica too much.

The bell rang. Jessica and I were the first ones out the door. I, however, stopped when I saw Edward, whereas Jessica ran right to him, giving him one of the biggest hugs that I had ever seen. Expectation was clear in her eyes. She was noticeably depressed when he only pecked her cheek. He then took her hand and led her toward me.

"You coming or not?" he invited, and we headed toward lunch.

Edward made sure that I was included in the conversation. Jessica didn't seem to like that very much. I really should have thought more carefully on who to "set Edward up with." He deserved better than a self-absorbed talkative girl. He deserved someone who would listen to him. After all, you're given two ears and one mouth. Aren't you supposed to listen twice as much? Edward had plenty of opinions. Someone needed to hear them. Unfortunately for both of us, I still wasn't that social and really couldn't think of anyone other than Jessica.

Jessica still managed to get a few monologues in, though. During one, my eyes skimmed aimlessly around the room. One of the windows caught my eyes. It didn't look like a very promising sight. There were weird white fluffs falling from the sky. Living in Arizona, you don't see snow much, and you also don't really prepare for it.

When it was just Edward and I in biology, we still didn't find much to talk about. It was just awkward. There wasn't much I could think to say.

"So...you and Jess are official now?" was the first thing that came to my mind. I hated to admit it, too. The more I watched him and Jessica, the more I realized how much it hadn't been a good idea. I could have just told him to trust people and leave it at that. But I had to just go running to Jessica and give her "Edward" advice. Why was I such a screw up? First Jacob and now this?

"Uh...yeah, I guess," he shrugged, as if we were talking about the weather, which was still behaving oddly. There also seemed to be a hint of regret in his voice. Which almost made me happy. If he wasn't too content, he could always get himself out of it.

"You don't sound all that thrilled," I commented.

"It's just a lot different than what I'm used to. I guess I'm just adjusting," he sighed.

Even though it was awkward, Edward made sure that he spent time with me, like I was a sister he didn't want to just ignore, which was how I wanted it to be. I just didn't want it to be as false as it felt. I just really hoped that Edward would find a distraction. And soon. I didn't want a repeat of the avoidance that we had had earlier just because of this silence.

I looked out the window. At least it was only raining now. With a little luck, all of the snow would be melted and gone by the end of gym. The rest of the class went by in an awkward silence.

I was more spacey than usual, thinking about the tangled web of failed plans that I was weaving, which didn't exactly compliment my clumsiness. I was hit in the head with a volleyball about five times and tripped a lot. Finally the coach let me sit out. I plopped onto the bleachers until the final bell interrupted my thinking.

I opened the locker room door and saw my luck take a turn for the worse. It had gotten cold enough to freeze the snow already on the ground, and the rain from biology had fallen on top of it, forming a nice layer of ice. I had chains in my truck that Charlie had put in there, but I had no idea at all how to put them on. And on top of that, getting to my truck was going to be enough of a challenge.

While I was contemplating how to get safely from the locker room to my truck, I saw Edward walking Jessica to her bus. Jessica provided a few moments of monologue before kissing him goodbye. Boy, did Edward look thrilled. NOT. His face was completely indifferent. It was as if she had kissed someone next to him and I had just been at too odd of an angle to see.

Edward was halfway to his Volvo when he noticed me standing against the brick wall. He carefully jogged across the parking lot toward me. It was the first time I really noticed how agile he was. He seemed more eager to make it to me than he had been to give Jessica a proper boyfriend goodbye. But that really shouldn't have surprised me.

"What are you waiting up for?" he asked when he reached me, oddly not out of breath.

"You obviously haven't seen me in gym class," I stated. "I don't know how to get to my truck without falling. I never had to worry about that in Arizona. Especially because I didn't have a car there. I just took the bus. And even then, snow and ice weren't there to handicap me." Edward nodded in agreement. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know that southern states don't exactly see this kind of precipitation.

"I'll help," he offered.

"Thanks," I accepted.

Both of his hands grabbed my right arm. He would pull me up if I started to slip, and every time that I came considerably close to falling, he caught me. One time, while trying to keep me up, Edward fell back onto the ice. A miserably failed attempt to help him up led to me following suit. The laughter that escaped both of us while trying to get back up was so natural.

We eventually slipped and slid our way to my truck. Both of us held onto the bed for support while we worked to calm our laughter. The excitement that pulsed through my veins made me realize that I had never really heard Edward fully laugh. It thrilled me to see that whatever Edward and I had hadn't exactly changed completely. I missed laughing like that. I was glad that I had met someone who could bring that back to me.

"Hey, Edward. Do you know how to put chains on?" I wondered, coming back to the reality of me, my truck, and the blanket of ice. "I didn't come all this way on a death bed of ice just to kill myself in a wreck."

"Yeah, here, let me show you," he suggested, taking the chains that I was holding out to him. I watched carefully and hoped that I would remember everything the next time that I would need them, which I hoped would be never. I wasn't exactly liking this idea of snow, ice, and potential death. Edward brushed his hands off on his jeans when he was done.

"Think you caught all of that?" he inquired.

"I think," I agreed. Then curiosity took over. "Do you really like Jessica?"

Edward paused for a moment. I almost thought I saw a glimmer of something different in his eyes. A spark. Something good.

"I don't know. She's deeper than people think she is, but she's still extremely chatty," he explained. "She's observant, but only when she wants to be. And she only observes the smaller things. And ever since the dance, she's changed."

Damn it, I thought. I guess acting classes aren't enough for Jessica.

"So what are you going to do now?" I wondered. "I mean, now that you've gone public?"

"I really have no idea," he admitted. "She used to be sweet, and I guess, because I'm doing what you said and I'm trusting people, I guess I think that there's still a sweet girl in there. A sweet girl that I don't exactly want to hurt. I don't have to love someone to not want to hurt them, right?" he asked. It made me proud that he didn't just want all girls to fall off of the face of the planet anymore. That he at least felt concerned about them now.

"Of course. I know exactly what you mean," I assured him. And I did. Wasn't that exactly what I was trying to attempt with Edward?

Edward's face fell. I had no idea why.

"Well, I guess I'll see you Monday," I said, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"Yeah," he replied glumly.

That's when I heard the screeching.

A blue van was skidding out of control towards us.

"MOVE!" Edward instructed, pushing me out of the way. With help from the ice, I easily slid out of the van's path, falling down in the process. Realizing that he had no time to follow me, Edward jumped into the bed of my truck, scurrying into the furthest corner from where the van was about to hit.

I was still sitting there in shock, letting my jacket and jeans get soaked when I heard Tyler get out of his van.

"Bella? Edward? Are you guys okay?"

Wow. Somebody else other than Edward was concerned about me. There was a shocker.

"Yeah. We're fine, I think," Edward confirmed, jumping down from my truck. When he had regained his balance, he walked over to me, reaching out his hand to help me up. "The ice was both a burden and a miracle in this case. I don't think Bella would have been able to move that fast if it weren't for the sliding," he joked, trying to make light of the situation.

Randomly, Edward slumped over to his car.

What had gotten him in such a bad mood? Just a few minutes ago we had been laughing as we slid clumsily across the ice. Now it seemed that this Edward didn't want to be touched.

Was there even a way for him not to hurt?