A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the long wait. I wanted to get this out sooner but I had finals at college and I had to spend these last few weeks getting ready for them. Now that they're over with I can finally get back on track with this story and get some much needed sleep. :) Even though it's now summer I'm still going to be extremely busy. I just found out I got accepted into nursing school at the very last minute. I have no intention of tossing out this story. It will get done but probably not as soon as I'd like it to. But the chapters will be coming so please be patient. :)

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the wonderful world of Twilight. I, sadly, own nothing.

Still a bit out of breath, I flung myself across the plush leather sofa in the studio lounge. I folded my arm across one of the snow white pillows and leaned my head against it, inhaling its too-clean scent.

"Isabella, you take five, 'kay sweetie?" A door opened across the room and Nadine's blonde head poked out.

I didn't look up. Rather, I weakly nodded my head, which was still pushed up against the pillow. I flicked my hand in her direction to show that I had heard her. Nadine giggled and shut the door. When she was gone I let out an exasperated groan and rolled my eyes. Why did they have to give me such a complete airhead for a personal assistant? She frequently made scheduling mistakes which thankfully haven't gotten me into too much trouble yet. But who knows what could happen in the future if she keeps making errors? Why oh why couldn't it be Angela instead? It shouldn't matter that she had no experience. She could learn. They all have to learn sometime. But I thought it best not to press the issue because I was well aware that at any moment they could decide to drop me all together and I definitely didn't want that.

It wasn't that I didn't like Nadine. She was nice enough, I guess, but she was always calling me things like "sweetie" and "honey" and saying things like "peachy". And she laughed and giggled constantly, even when there was nothing even remotely funny. I did my best to be polite to her because I would never want to hurt her feelings. There were times, though, when I wanted to scream out of frustration for her incessant giggling and attempts to mother me. I didn't want anyone acting like my mother, not even Renée. I was always more the parent in that relationship as it was. Nadine was a Hollywood girl through and through. Everything about her was perfect and Barbie-like. She had silky blonde hair, a dazzling smile full of sparkly white teeth and wore only the latest and greatest in fashion design.

It was difficult adjusting to a personal assistant. She was very good to have around for taking calls and scheduling appointments with this person and that one. But, holy crow, she went with me everywhere. I could barely get a moment to myself, and even with her around my phone was constantly ringing. I never wanted a cell phone. Now I had two. No joke, two. One was for personal calls and the other was for business. Neither of which ever seemed to stop ringing. Charlie usually called two or three times a day to check on me despite my constant reassurances that I was fine. I had both phones turned on silent at the moment because, as ordered by Nadine, I was not to be disturbed. I was supposed to speak as little as possible to conserve my voice, which I personally though was a bit ridiculous.

The last few weeks had been very trying. I was finally wrapping up the recording of my debut album, which was set to be released in less than a month. The whole experience was a lot more complicated than I would have thought. I was just appreciative that I was getting to use all my own songs and that they weren't altered beyond my own recognition. We had actually finished the main vocals weeks ago but I was now required back at the studio to fill in parts where my voice wasn't as audible as it needed to be and to fill in with some background vocals.

It still amazed me that people actually thought I had talent for this. What amazed me more was that the public actually like my music. People were anticipating the release of my album, which shocked me. My first single, "October", became a quick favorite only days after its release on the radio. It felt strange knowing that people all over the country were listening to, and possibly even singing, a song I had written. It seemed like it had been ages since Angela and I were playing that same tune in her bedroom back in Forks. I never would have imagined something like this could happen.

I was very grateful to be signed at all but I still didn't like the fact that I had to go by "Isabella". The producers all agreed that "Bella" wasn't very professional sounding and so I needed a more formal title. My last name had also gotten dropped somewhere along the way.

I had chosen to title my debut Finally Woken. It just seemed to fit my current state of being. Before, it was as if I had been asleep for months, more dead than alive. Not even a real person anymore. I didn't feel like myself. I had gotten to the point where I didn't even recognize myself anymore. It was a terrifying place to be. But the journal changed everything. I had found a way at last to escape. It was like I had truly opened my eyes and saw the sun for the first time. I may have lost the only real love I would ever know, but I was alive. I survived. And that, to me, was something remarkable.

The phone in my right pocket began to buzz, pulling me from my thoughts. I sighed and pulled it out. My mood brightened considerably when I saw that it was Angela who was calling. It had been a few weeks since I'd gotten a chance to talk with her. I eagerly flipped the shaking device open and held it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Bella? Hi, it's Angela." She sounded as if she wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to call me. This didn't surprise me though; she was always worried if she was interrupting something I was doing when she called.

"Hi, Angela. It's great to hear from you!" I sat up straighter and folded my legs up on the sofa, feeling much better than I had all day.

"You aren't, um, busy or anything, are you?" She asked quietly.

"No, no, of course not. I told you before; I'm never too busy to talk to friends. Don't worry so much about it. Really, it's fine," I added before she could protest.

"Your assistant doesn't seem to think so." I frowned in confusion for a moment before I remembered the time Nadine was in charge of my calls while I was in a meeting with my producers. She had snobbishly told Angela that I was "otherwise occupied" and far too busy in general for "inconsequential matters' such as talking to her. Needless to say, that was the first and last time Nadine handled my personal calls.

I waved my free hand in the air, as if shooing away what Angela had said. "Forget about that. They can't control every part of my life."

Angela laughed lightly and I was relieved that she seemed to no longer feel her calls were some sort of disturbance to me.

"So, what have you been up to recently?" She asked after a moment.

"I'm in the studio right now finishing up the last bits for my album. We're just about done. It's pretty exciting."

"Sounds like it," she said enthusiastically. "I knew you could do it, Bella. You've got talent and producers can spot that from a mile away. Well..." she paused. "At least the ones who actually care about putting out decent music rather than commercialized garbage. It's all about image these days. If you look good you can get away with putting out worthless music."

"I guess you're right." I sighed.

"I am right," she said, laughing. "You just need to get some self-confidence and realize that you really are good, that you really do have a gift for this. You need to be confident in a business like this or you'll fall apart. If you don't think you're any good, pretty soon you won't be. There's a lot of competition out there, Bella. A lot. But of course, you don't want to get too confident or your public will start to hate you. No one likes feeling that they are beneath someone else."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah, that's me. Bella Swan, egomaniac."

Angela laughed again. "I'm serious, Bella. Your fans are important, don't forget that. Without them buying the music and going to concerts you're nothing more than a girl with a guitar and a dream."

"I know," I said, feeling a bit irritated that she would think I would do something like that. "I would never want to take people for granted, especially not people who support me. I just can't believe so many people like my music. It's crazy."

"You're the biggest thing to ever happen to Forks," she replied in agreement. "Did you know they almost chose your song for the prom theme? They picked an oldie at the last minute."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah," she said. "It seemed like everyone was in favor of picking your song but Jessica was in charge of the prom committee and she voted against it. It didn't surprise me though. She's always been jealous of you, you know. It's even worse now considering all the success you've had. I'm surprised her skin hasn't turned green yet." Angela finished, snickering.

I joined in her laughing at Jessica's envy. "So how was prom anyway? Did you and Ben have a good time?"

"Well, Jessica and Mike got in this huge fight. They were screaming at each other most of the night and she ended up pouring her punch down the back of his shirt when he was turned around. You should have heard the way he screamed when he felt that ice."

"Poor Mike," I said, trying not to laugh.

"Other than that it was pretty fun," Angela continued. "Ben actually knows how to dance," she added excitedly.

"Really? So he's got some smooth moves he's been hiding from us?"

Angela laughed. "You'd be surprised."

The door clicked open again and Nadine poked her head out again, frowning. I looked over at her apprehensively. Her frown turned into a fierce scowl when she saw that I was talking on the phone.

"Um, Angela, I've got to go." My voice was low and slightly anxious. "Say hi to Charlie if you see him. Oh, and Jake, too, if you're in La Push anytime soon."

She let out an understanding "oh" before saying, "I will. Bye Bella. Good luck with the rest of your recording."

"Thanks. Bye."

I snapped my phone shut and glanced over at Nadine, who was now tapping her foot impatiently.

"Um," I started, timidly. "Hi."

"Isabella," she said sternly, as if I were a child she was scolding. "The whole point of you being in here was so that you could take a break."

I blinked at her confusion.

"You were supposed to be giving your vocal chords a break," she hissed. "You need your voice to be strong for the recording! Do you realize how important this is? We have a deadline to make! This album is due out in less than a month! Are you thinking about these things at all?"

I winced, taken aback by the sharp anger I had never heard from her before. "Sorry, Nadine," I muttered pathetically. "I understand how much pressure everyone's under right now. I didn't mean to-"

She shut her eyes and breathed in through her nose, trying to calm herself. "Just please try and listen to me in the future."

I swallowed and nodded. When I realized her eyes were still closed I squeaked, "Yes."

Nadine's blue eyes popped open again and she appeared to be back to her usual self, to my intense relief. She forced a tight smile. "Okay then," she said, as though nothing had happened. Her voice had regained its usual perkiness, though I wasn't sure given the situation if it was genuine. "You're wanted back in the studio. Let's get these vocals finished up so they can complete the mixing and editing. Your very first album is about to drop, hun!" She scurried over to me and wrapped her thin arms around me, while her feet bounced up and down excitedly.

Nadine pulled back and her face fell. "I, uh, forgot to mention. We have a slight scheduling error."

I sighed. This was certainly nothing to be surprised about. I waited.

"Your appearance on the Jay Leonard show that was supposed to be two weeks from Saturday is actually this coming Saturday. I got the dates confused."

"What?" I shrieked. "You mean I only have a few days to get ready for this?" My stomach twisted into painful knots and I suddenly felt very sick.

"Oh, it's no big deal. I've met him before and he's a nice guy." She waved her hand as if the issue were insignificant.

"That's not what I'm worried about," I said frantically. "All those people..."

"It's okay to be nervous, everyone usually is. But honestly, if you can't handle a little television appearance I don't know how you expect to be able to go on tour. The number of people who are in the Leonard audience is nothing compared to the thousands who show up for concerts."

I nodded weakly.

"Okay, let's get to work!"

Before I could respond she spun me around and began pushing me towards the studio door.

Reviews are love. No one said what they thought of Edward yet. So if you could leave some feedback on that it'd be great. I'm planning on doing so more chapters in his POV. Actually, I think the next one or two chapters are going to be Edward. This is getting to be just as much his story as it is Bella's. It's like he's taking over. ;)

Also, my Photobucket account is being screwy at the moment so I'll have to wait until the next update to get the character pictures put in my profile.