Disclaimer: I do not own Twiligh

Chapter 4 – Alice

For the first time in three weeks, I felt happy.

It turned out that the new girl, Alice Brandon, had all her morning classes with me.

And true to her word, she sat with me at lunch.

Lunch turned out to be more enjoyable than I thought. Alice and I spent the whole time just talking about each other. I asked her why she decided to change schools with only two years left of high school, and she said it was because her parents have recently divorced and she decided to live with her mother, who wanted to live somewhere quiet to get her thoughts collected.

In return, I briefly told her about my life, only briefly touching on the Edward fiasco. I did not really want to talk about it and Alice seemed to understand that, so she changed the topic to a lighter one.

Lunch seemed to have gone by rather quickly. Before I knew it, Alice and I were departing. She was heading towards the art building while I went to biology, where Edward was still my lab partner – who refused to acknowledge me.

I got to class early and was alone as usual. Just as I was about to unpack my bag, I felt my phone vibrate. I took it out and noticed that Alice has sent me a text.

Hey, I 4got to ask. Do u want 2 go shopping with me tonight?
I haven't had a chance 2 check out the shops!

I sat and thought about it for a little while. Then I texted Alice back.

I'd love 2 go.
But I'll have to check with mum first.
I'll let you know after school.

I was so engrossed in my texting that I did not realize Edward had walked in and sat down in his usual seat beside me, silently. Still in my "I just got a new best friend" phase, I did not realize that Edward was leaning over curiously to see what I was doing. But when I noticed, I roughly pushed his head away and snarled "mind your own business!"

If he could go get a bunch of new best friends, I could as well. Except my friend is a sweet and generous person, unlike Edward's new friends (most of them female) who seem to only want their hands down his pants.

Edward and I sat there, staring at each other in shock because I have never spoken to him that way before.

But then I guess, he has never spoken to me so rudely and harshly before either.

We were interrupted from our staring contest by my phone vibrating again.

I checked my phone, making sure Edward could not see. After the way I was treated by him, I believe he had no rights to know what I was doing while he has playing football and flirting with bimbos.

I know you will be able to come – was Alice's reply.

Wow, this girl was sure confident. She seemed to know what was going to happen in the future. Whether she was right or wrong…well I won't find out till later today.

When I got home after a long, boring day of school, I found mum talking animatedly on the phone. Knowing that she would say no if I ask her about the shopping trip while she was on the phone, I went to do some homework which I got today. It did not take very long. Forty minutes later, I was finished. I went downstairs to see if mum was still on the phone. She wasn't, so I asked her about the shopping trip.

She seemed very excited about the idea and gave me three hundred dollars before shooing me out the door.

I called Alice and told her that I was on the way to her place.

"I knew you would be able to come," she told me before hanging up.

OoOoOoOoOo

The shopping trip with Alice was great fun until we came across the store which I was in with Renee three weeks ago.

"Oh my God!" Alice squealed when she saw the dress that I wanted for the formal. "You have to wear that to the formal Bella!"

"I don't think I'll go to the formal Alice," I said, smiling sadly at Alice.

Alice's face dropped from happy to extremely shocked to extremely sad. "Why not?"

"I just don't think I will enjoy it." I said, "Especially now that I don't have Edward to hang out with."

"You have me!"

"I know. But I think you should be able to have fun on your formal night. I won't be much fun at all..."

"…because you don't have Edward." Alice said, giving me a knowing look.

I was about to deny it, but deep down, I knew that was the truth. Even if he was a jerk and even if I hated him right now, deep down, I knew that he would always be a big part of my life.

"You love him," Alice stated, staring at the dress, completely avoiding my eyes.

I was about it deny this as well, but I could not bring myself to say that I didn't love him, because I did! I've loved him for my whole life. It was hard to un-love him just because he was being a complete dipshit right now.

Minutes flew by, with a silence between Alice and I. It wasn't awkward. It seemed that Alice knew that I wanted to think. Minutes later, Alice suddenly whined, "Bella, I'm feeling hungry. But I really want to look around some more in this shop before it closes. Will you be a good friend and go get me some food to eat?"

I eyed Alice suspiciously. She said all of this too sweetly and I had a feeling she had something up her sleeves. But I agreed to it anyway. I went off and got Alice some food, and when I came back, Alice had a new bag in addition to her many other shopping bags.

"What did you get?" I asked.

"Oh…um…I just got this nice dress. Nothing spectacular. Just something small because I felt like buying it." I didn't know Alice very well, but it was hard not to tell that she was lying. I let it go though. Maybe she brought a bra or something and was embarrassed about it. I know I would have been embarrassed.

When I arrived home after dropping Alice off, I crawled straight into bed.

I felt…I don't know. Happy, but not. I was extremely grateful and glad of this wonderful new friend, but for some reason, I still did not feel happy enough. It felt as if something was missing in my life.

And I knew exactly what.

Or more like, who was missing.