Disclaimer:

Me- can I please, please have Twilight??

Stephenie- No, it's mine!

Me- but please! I want it so bad!

Stephenie- NO!

Well there you have it. I do not own Twilight sniff sniff

A/N: okay, thank you for all who have reviewed! But I have to warn you. This might be the last chapter for a while. My computer is broken and I've been using my brother's computer the whole summer and now he's taking it away to college. It's not the last chapter of the story obviously, but it might be a little while before I get another chapter out.

Chapter 5

EPOV

Tonight was the welcome back dance at the school. I was a little nervous. Mainly because I was sure that I'd see Bella there. I had heard Alice and Rosalie talking about it all week and I knew they'd make her go. I had a couple more classes with Bella but I couldn't build up enough courage to talk to her. Emmett, Jasper and I headed out for the dance. I was wearing a dark green short sleeve dress shirt. No tie and black pants. Emmett was wearing a maroon dress shirt and kaki colored pants. Jasper was wearing a blue dress shirt with a classy white tie and black pants. I couldn't believe how school spirited the gym was, blue and yellow everywhere.

Emmett, Jasper and I decided to wait until more people started dancing to make our way to the dance floor. I scanned the crowd for Bella. She had to be here. I wouldn't have admitted it, but she was the reason I was here. I wanted to get to know her and I thought the dance could break the ice a little bit. I excused myself to go to the bathroom, I was still a little nervous and wanted to make sure I looked okay, yeah I know it's a little girly to do that, but I didn't want some stupid wardrobe malfunction to be the reason I don't get to talk to Bella tonight. I took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom, knowing that tonight I would talk to her again and maybe try and make plans to hang out. Not like a date, but as friends first. Maybe later it could turn into a date or two, but I don't want to make things go too fast.

I went back to the gym to find Emmett and Jasper. But when I got there, I couldn't find them. Hm, maybe they started dancing without me and found themselves a couple girls. Maybe not Jasper though, he had been going on and on about Alice. Yes, Bella's friend Alice. But, he was trying to be the southern gentleman that he is and didn't want to rush things either. I don't think they've talked since that art class. I decided against fighting the crowd to try and find Emmett because I knew that I wouldn't want to see what he was doing. Now I was nervous. I didn't have the boys to back me up seeing as I couldn't find them.

I went over to the drink table to calm my nerves when I found Jasper. He was talking to a girl that I recognized as Alice. I sat there thinking about how I knew about this girl and her friend 

Rose but have never talked to them. Kind of stalkerish, but not at the same time. I went to the drink table and got a drink while I overheard their conversation.

"So, I take it you two haven't seen each other around school at all" I froze when I heard that voice. That wasn't Alice's voice and it certainly wasn't Jasper's. It was Bella's

"Actually" Both Jasper and Alice said at the same time.

"We're in the same art class on Monday's" Jasper finished. I heard Alice giggle. I was tempted to turn around, but didn't want to blow my cover.

"Oh, I see. Alice, I'm surprised you didn't mention Jasper" I heard Bella speak again. How cute, she was trying to get them together.

"Well, I-I just had a-a lot going on that day. And I didn't want to seem stalkerish by talking to my friends about a guy I didn't really know" Alice said nervously. Jasper has nothing to worry about, Alice is just as nervous as he is. I heard a slower song start and counted down until Jasper asked Alice to dance. 5…4…3…2…1…

"Ummm… Alice?" Jasper asked.

"Yes?"

"May I have this dance?" Knew it. I heard them walking off. I downed the rest of my drink and took a deep breath. Bella was now alone and it was my chance to ask her to dance with me. My heart was beating so fast and hard I wouldn't be surprised if she could hear it over the music. I took another deep breath and slowly turned around. But to my surprise Bella wasn't there. She was walking towards the door. Why was she leaving? Did she see me? Is that why? Does she not like me? Did she not want me to get the chance to ask her to dance? Was she just nervous? Did she feel left out by her friends? Is that why she left? So many questions ran through my head as I grabbed another drink.

I decided that if Bella wasn't there, there was no reason for me to be at the dance. I know that sounds obsessive but like I said before, I was only coming so maybe I could try and dance with her and become friends with her. I was about to walk out when someone stopped me.

"Hey cutie" I turned to see a blonde girl standing there.

"Hi" I said uncertainly. She looked like a slut the way she was dressed. She had a bright blue strapless dress on that barely covered her behind. It also fit every single part over her body like a glove and as tight as a glove too. It was sickening to look at.

"I'm Lauren. I think it would be like the most amazing thing if you know, me and you danced together." She said trying to sound seductive. She didn't succeed in the slightest. She was batting her eyelashes like a maniac. I wanted to run as far away from her as I could but that would be rude. I was raised better than that.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude but I was actually about to leave." I said politely declining her request. Please get me away from this girl.

"Well why would you want to leave when you can dance with me now?" she said. Wow, this girl is cocky.

"I'm sorry but I'm just really tired. You know, from school and stuff." I started to walk away. She grabbed my shoulder and I turned back to her.

"I know some things we can do to wake you up" Lauren said to me with a "seductive and sexy" smile on her face. Gag me please.

"I've got to go." I ran out of the building. (a/n he went out a different door than Bella did trying to get away from Lauren) I started to walk around a little bit. I really didn't want to go back to the room but I didn't want to stay at the dance. I stood outside for a minute. I looked up at the sky and noticed how many stars I could see. It was amazing. Here we were in New York City and there was a full sky of stars viewable. I never would have guessed that when I came here, I could see the stars. I never really got a chance to see the stars back home in Forks much. It was always too cloudy there. My dad used to watch the stars with me and teach me constellations when we got the chance to. I still loved it when I got the chance to do it. I wanted to look at the stars some more but it might look weird if I just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk looking up at the sky. I knew that there was a bench around the other side of the gym.

I walked over there and saw someone already sitting on the bench. It was Bella. My heart skipped a beat. She didn't go home. Maybe she didn't see me at the drink table. Maybe she didn't even know I wanted to dance with her. I took a deep breath and walked closer.

"Hey" I called to her. She turned around slowly and looked really surprised to see me. Wow, she looked beautiful.

"Hi" She said quietly. Why was she talking so quietly? Was she nervous? Why would she be?

"It's Bella right?" I said with a smile. What a stupid thing to say! Now it looks like I don't remember her at all. She just sat there and nodded. Oh wonderful. She doesn't remember who I am. She doesn't remember what happened on Monday. Great, this is just wonderful.

"You don't remember me do you? Well that's embarrassing. Great." I said the second part soft and low. Hopefully she didn't hear it.

"N-no. I-I remember y-you" said Bella while looking a little panicked. "It's E-Edward… right?" Well she got the name right. But that doesn't mean she actually remembered anything.

"Yeah," Well that was as good as it was going to get for her remembering me.



"So… why aren't you inside at the dance? You look dressed for a d-dance" I stuttered. Great, that's really flattering to yourself.

"Stargazing." She said quietly again. Wow, we were doing the same thing. Who would have guessed?

"Yeah, they're amazing aren't they? You wouldn't expect to see them in the city, but there you are" I said as I went to go sit down. I was distracted by the sound of the gym doors opening. Alice and Rosalie came bursting out and ran over to Bella.

"Bella! They're playing our song next! We need to get in there and get this party started!!" Alice said enthusiastically as she pulled her off the bench

"But Alice I-?" Bella tried to protest. I could tell she was confused.

"No buts! We are not letting your dress go to waste!" said Rosalie. They dragged her inside. I don't think that they even noticed I was standing there. I was so angry. I was angry at Alice and Rosalie for taking her away when I was so close, but I was mainly mad at myself. I could have easily talked to her earlier in the week with no interruptions. I could also just as easily ran after her as soon as I saw her leave. But no, I had to be all depressed cause she wasn't there. I decided to go back inside and maybe try and ask her to dance. I knew she was in there now. All I had to do was avoid that Lauren girl and get to Bella. Perfect. When I got inside I heard the song that was supposedly "their song".

Girl I can't notice but to, notice you, noticing me, from across the room I can see it and can't stop myself from looking and noticing you, noticing me,
Watch out I've seen her type before
That girl is so DANGEROUS,
That girl is so DANGEROUS,
That girl is a bad girl, I've seen her type before
She's so DANGEROUS,
That girl is so DANGEROUS,
That girl is a bad girl, yeah

Everyone was crowded in a circle in the middle of the gym. I wondered what was going on so I walked over to the edge and tried to see what was happening.

It was then that I saw Bella, Rosalie, and Alice dancing in the middle of the circle and singing and rapping to each other. It was then that I noticed Bella's dress and exactly what she looked like. Stunning was what she looked like. No, stunning isn't the right word. I don't even know what the right word is. There isn't one to describe the way she looks. Her dark blue dress hugged her body perfectly and went beautifully with her pale skin. Her hair was soft and curled. The best part of the way she looked was the smile on her face. I could tell she was having the time of her life as she danced and sang with her two friends. Just seeing her like that made me want to go 

over there and make her as happy as she was right then. I was staring at her when I heard someone say her name.

"Damn! Look at Bella! She never acts like that, you think she might date this year?" a boy with dark brown hair asked his friend.

"I don't know. But I definitely want a piece of that. She looks so hot tonight!" his friend said. I could feel the jealousy grow within me as I heard them talking. How dare they talk about her like that! Wait, why was I reacting this way? I didn't even really know her! I knew I liked her but I didn't know I could get jealous this easily. I had to get to know her better.

"Don't get your hopes up boys. Bella doesn't date. Period. You know how strict she is about that. I don't know why she doesn't. She just doesn't." another boy said to the other two.

So Bella didn't date? At all?She wouldn't even give me a chance. Great. My night just went down the tube from those 3 words. I took one last look at Bella and decided that I should just give up. If we became friends, that would be great. But I didn't want to try and force her into friendship when I knew I wanted so much more. I didn't want to hurt her. I left the gym one last time to go back to my room. I actually made it to my room this time. I didn't bother changing. I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. I flipped through all 1000 channels 5 times before I heard the door open and heard my name.

"Edward"

BPOV

This was not happening. Edward was not Jasper and Emmett's roommate. I had already embarrassed myself in front of him enough for one night. I looked over to Alice and Rose; their mouths had dropped from surprise. Alice's mouth curled up into a smile as she composed herself. Edward had turned around by this point. I noticed what he was wearing. He had a gorgeous green dress shirt on. It complimented his eyes perfectly. I had to remind myself to breathe when I looked at him.

"H-hey guys. What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing, we just met these girls at the dance and decided to come back here for some fun. You in?" asked Jasper. I silently prayed for him to say yes and for him to say no at the same time I couldn't make up my mind.

"Yeah, sure" he said with a smile.

"So where were you all night man?" Emmett asked. Oh, no. This is not good. Please don't talk about me stuttering.

"Well I couldn't find you after I came out of the bathroom, so I went to the drink table and then decided to get out of there. I'm not much of a dancer so I went to look at the stars. Then I went 

back in for a little bit and came back here." I let out a breath of relief. He didn't say anything about me. Thank God.

"Oh, well. That's cool I guess. We were actually hanging out with these three for a while." Emmett said as he nudged Rosalie and she started laughing. Alice walked over to Edward and stuck out her hand with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm Alice Brandon! I think we have English together" she said as she shook a very confused Edward's hand.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Edward Cullen."

"I'm Rosalie Hale, also in your English class" said Rosalie. Edward nodded.

"Oh! And this is—" Emmett started.

"Bella" Edward finished. Emmett got a very confused look on his face and kept looking between Edward and me. I could feel my face heat up as I blushed, again.

"How did you…?" Jasper asked, just as confused as Emmett looked.

"Um, she helped me find my way back to the dorm one day… I got lost" Edward said with a sheepish smile. Emmett and Jasper looked at me and I nodded. I didn't trust my voice when I was around Edward. I could barely get out a sentence. I didn't understand why he affected me so. I mean he was just another guy. But something seemed different about him. I couldn't exactly put my finger on what that was but for some reason I couldn't help but want to be around him. At the same time I didn't because I didn't want to embarrass myself. I need therapy.

"Oh, well. I guess you don't need to introduce yourselves… who's up for truth or dare?" Emmett said with an evil grin. We all nodded in agreement. I didn't really like truth or dare, but it might be fun.

"Okay me first. Rose, truth or dare?" Emmett asked.

"Dare, definitely."

"I dare you to smear peanut butter in one armpit, jelly in the other, and dance around 5 times saying 'I love pb&j!'" Emmett said with a very large grin on his face.

"Ew! No way! Not going to happen." Rose said.

"Yeah, Em that's gross. Plus we don't even have any peanut butter or jelly." Said Jasper. Rosalie mouthed a 'thank you' his way.

"Fine. Then… I dare you to kiss me" said Emmett with a smile on his face.



"Fine" Rose sighed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey! That is not what I asked you to do!" said a very angry Emmett.

"Oh yes it is. You asked me to kiss you. I kissed you. You never specified where" said a smug Rosalie. Emmett was not a happy camper for getting jipped out of his kiss.

"Okay… Edward truth or dare?"

"Truth" said Edward. Surprisingly Emmett didn't make fun of him for picking truth. Normally, people got laughed at for picking truth.

"What's the worst pick up line someone's used on you" That was very easy of Rose. Normally she would make you tell all about some embarrassing thing that made you want to never get Rose angry so she wouldn't spill it. This was nothing compared to what she could dish out.

"At my old school, this girl thought she was God's gift to men and had had her eyes on me since junior high. She came up to me and said 'I can't find my puppy, can you help me find him? I think he went into this cheap motel room.' Basically I ran in the other direction while laughing my head off." We all burst out laughing at the situation. Once we calmed down, it was Edward's turn.

"Bella, truth or dare" I froze for a minute. Did he really just ask me truth or dare? No way was I going to do dare. I mean I had no idea what this kid could dish out on me, at least when I played with Rosalie and Alice I knew what they could do. He didn't get laughed at for choosing truth and it can't be that bad of a question.

"Truth" I said. He paused for a minute. It looked like he was debating whether to ask me something or not.

"… w-why don't you date?" Okay I was wrong. It can be that bad of a question.

"H-how'd you know I don't date?"

"Well, I overheard some guys talking when you were dancing with Alice and Rosalie tonight at the dance. You know during 'Dangerous' and they said that you didn't date. Period. I was just wondering why that was… if it's too personal… I understand you don't have to say." Edward said as he looked down, like he was embarrassed for even asking the question. I sat there for a minute and thought over what I could say. I guess it couldn't hurt for them to know. As long as they didn't go spread it around campus. I didn't want everyone to know why I don't date. I looked at Alice and Rose and smiled. They gave me an encouraging nod. I decided I should start the story.

"Well, there's more than one reason I don't really like playing truth or dare. Mainly I just think it's fairly stupid but there's another reason. I usually only play with Alice and Rosalie. Basically, when I was 11 I really liked this kid, Sam. Everyone in my school knew it. I was made fun of for 

the whole school year because he didn't like me back. His friends would taunt me and ask me questions to see how much I knew about him. They thought I was obsessed and I honest to God wasn't. I could tell them the same information about anyone in our grade, and only because I actually paid attention. When I was 12, he called me up and asked me out. I was so excited. I said yes automatically without even thinking it through. I told my friends and I was the happiest I had ever been in my life. I had a boyfriend when I didn't have that many friends. I couldn't believe it. The only problem was that he was avoiding me. He didn't talk to me at all. Every time I came his way during school, he'd run the other way. I finally confronted him 2 days later and he told me everything. It turned out that he did it on a dare. That he only did it so he wouldn't be called a wimp. He told me I was ugly and that no way in hell would anyone ever want to date me. Then he dumped me. I was devastated. I've heard a lot of stories of what has happened to some of the girls on campus and I've also witnessed it. I also have my parents, they're divorced and my father is still single. He's dated a couple people but they've all broken his heart. My mother is remarried, but it took her a couple of tires. One man she was thinking about marrying even started to hit on me. When I told him to stop he broke up with my mom and told me I was a worthless piece of crap. He told me I was ugly and he felt sorry for the guy who was stupid enough to propose to me." I paused to look up at their faces. I had been staring at my hands, afraid to see their expressions. Rose and Alice had heard it before but still looked sad, Emmett was in thought (surprise there), Jasper was in disbelief, and Edward looked really angry. I looked back down and continued.

"I've never been able to take emotional pain. Physical pain I can handle. I have to be able being the klutz I am. But no matter what I do, I just can't take being hurt emotionally. One of my only friends as a kid, Jess, completely turned on me and friend dumped me. It was a while before I fully recovered. Not to mention what happened with Sam, I still haven't forgiven him or myself for being so stupid." I looked back up; no one's expressions had changed, except for Edward who now looked like he wanted to punch me. Probably because I was making people feel bad for me. He probably thought I was selfish. "So, that's why I don't date."

Everyone was silent for a moment. I don't think that any of them expected for truth or dare to be this truthful. Well, they were the ones that wanted it right?

"I'm so sorry Bella. I wouldn't want to date either if that happened to me" said Jasper. Emmett nodded in agreement.

"Um, I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't spread that around campus. I don't want people to feel bad." I said. Jasper and Emmett agreed immediately but what Edward did shocked me. He stood up and just walked out of the room. Still looking as angry as he did before. The boys quickly changed the subject and we decided to watch a movie. I declined and decided to go back to our room. I was pretty tired and I didn't want them to stare at me after what I had just told them. I was kind of hurt by Edward's reaction to the story. I mean, he was the one who asked wasn't he? I walked into the dorm and found my bed. I showered quickly and changed into my favorite sweats. I was out as my head hit the pillow.

I was scared to see Edward the rest of the weekend, so I tried to go out as little as possible. I pretended I needed to study or do some homework. Alice and Rosalie didn't complain but they 

went out with Emmett and Jasper on Sunday. It didn't bother me; it just meant that they weren't there to annoy me about why I wasn't going out of the dorm. The next day was Monday. That meant I had English with Edward. I avoided him by getting to class right before the bell, and making sure I was out right after the second bell. I stayed in my dorm as much as possible, and I would until I was sure he wouldn't talk to me. I had done a good job of avoiding Edward until Thursday. I forgot my history book in the classroom and went to go pick it up. He cornered me on my way there.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he asked boring those emerald eyes into mine.

"W-well… I-I…" I sighed. "Why do you even care?"

"Why wouldn't I care Bella?" He looked as though I had just insulted him. Well, that wasn't what I was expecting.

"Well, you looked really mad at me last Saturday night when I told you the answer to the truth question… and then you walked out of the room just as angry and without saying anything… so I guess I thought that you thought I was being selfish by telling you… or something like that…" I looked down at my hands.

"Is that what you thought?" I nodded. Then I felt a finger on my chin and he lifted it up so I was looking straight at him. He chuckled.

"I wasn't mad at you. I was angry at all those people. It made me mad to know that people treated you in that way. You shouldn't have been treated that way. And I left the room because I didn't want to overreact and hurt someone in there. I was really close to punching something or someone, whichever was closest, because I was so mad. It had nothing to do with you" he explained and let my chin go.

"Oh" was all I could say. So I was completely wrong in thinking that he thought I was selfish. I looked back down in embarrassment.

"All week I've been trying to talk to you to see if you're okay" I looked back up.

"Really? You care if I'm okay right now?"

"Of course I care… I care about you Bella. I haven't known you long, but I do care about you." He said with a smile. Wow, he cared. He actually cared. I couldn't believe it. I smiled at him, it was the only thing I could think of doing.

"Thank you… for caring. And as of right now… I'm okay." I said sincerely. He then offered to walk me wherever I was going and I happily accepted. Maybe I was wrong about all guys. Maybe they're not all bad.

A/N: Ahh so now you know Bella's story. And Lauren has tried to stake her claim on Edward and it won't be the last time. So, I hope you liked that chapter it was 10 pages on 

my Word. So I hope it lasts you till I can get to a computer and type my butt off to get another chapter. But until then, you know what you can do? Review!!