(A/N) I had a writer's block when I wrote this...It took some major coaxing and convincing for the block to lift enough to get this part out. It won't be as good as some of my previous chapters. I was going to rewrite it, but then I got these terrible stomach cramps, and I thought better of it. I'm hoping that the next chapter will be better. And thanks to all who gave me encouragement through reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight nor New Moon...enough said...lol

Chapter 12

I had not seen Edward since I left him on the balcony yesterday. It almost seemed as if he was avoiding me. It didn't matter, really – I knew he needed time to take in what I told him, and I also knew that he was going to start firing questions at me as soon as I saw him again. I guess you could say that I was glad for the time he gave me to think about possible questions…and whatever else there was to think about.

Other than Alice, I had not seen much of the rest of the Cullens. All of them seemed to have precognitions of when my curse kicks in. As always, when I trip on the stairs and brace for impact with the ground that loved me so, one of the Cullens was always there to save me. It's been four days since the last time I sported a new bruise or scratch. I couldn't say that I'm proud of myself, since I would've fallen, many times, had not one of the Cullens always been there to save me.

Even so, I never saw Rosalie. Scratch that. The one time I did see her, she glared at me so…hard…that I thought her eyes would pop out. She smirked at me – did what she could do to make me feel hated, and then walked away as if nothing happened. I avoided her ever since.

Alice informed me this morning that Lord Newton's ball will be delayed for a day or two because of the heavy snow. It had snowed all night with slight northern winds, and the thickest snowdrifts could completely drown me if I fell on them. Average streets were piled with snow that went to my knees, being vertically challenged as I was.

By late afternoon, the skies finally saw mercy. The snow relented, and what wind there was disappeared. The sun peeked out from behind the thin snow-less clouds. The air was chilly, yet Alice still threw a cloak over me and dragged me outside for a game in the snow.

The cold winter air filled my lungs, stinging, yet very refreshing. As soon as we stepped into the courtyard, a blast of snowballs rained on us. Within minutes, my hair was wet and I had a mouthful of snow due to an unsuccessful attempt at escaping the onslaught of snowballs.

Moving quickly, Alice and I built ourselves a fort, hiding behind it to escape the bombarding snowballs from the boys. We made our own weaponry – giant snowballs and small snowballs, oval-shaped ones and even a square one. Soon, she began our counterattack while I continued to stock up our weapon stores.

A little later, I saw Jasper climb up to the castle rooftop, taking a shovel with them, vampire ability, I guessed. Emmett called Edward to come out, screamed at the top of his lungs when Edward wouldn't appear.

A minute later, Edward finally came out, saving my ear from total destruction. However, Jasper on the roof dumped a shovelful of snow. The best thing was…Jasper missed by an inch!!! Everyone looked up to see Jasper's expression of shock. There was a moment of total silence before everyone, except Jasper, doubled over laughing. Jasper was still up on the roof cursing his aim. I did not know much about vampires, but this family did not seem like a vampire family at all.

Did I mention that men have big egos that they like to keep yet? Well, men have big egos, and an ego-wounded Jasper slid down the castle walls, got to where the store of snowballs were stocked, and began attacking anyone that was still laughing. Emmett got hit first, simply since he was the closest. He ducked the first and second one, but the third one hit him in the face, effectively ending his laughter by plugging his mouth with a full-sized snowball.

Jasper then proceeded with Edward, who was much quicker. I don't think any of the dozens of snowballs ever hit Edward, but many hit Alice…and…you guessed it…some hit me.

By the time King Carlisle and Esme called a stop to our fight, I was thoroughly wet, as were the others. Edward was the driest of us all. Only his hair was wet – the mess of bronze shining in the light. He still hadn't spoken with me yet, but he was courteous. Once the commotion stopped, I became aware of my wet clothing and the temperature of the weather. My shivers were uncontrollable. Being the gentleman that he was, Edward carried me inside, saying that he didn't want me to catch a fever.

I was complaining the whole way. I could walk on my own feet, but he ignored my protests as if he never heard them. My dress was clinging to me; the snowmelt it was bathed in did not help raise my temperature. I tried to snuggle close to Edward, but he didn't seem to be radiating much heat either.

He carried me all the way to my room, when a shocked-out-of-her-mind Sophie immediately gathered blankets to cover me. Edward set me on my bed before giving me a look that seemed to say that he would talk to me later. I opened my mouth to speak, but he just placed a cold finger on my lips, silencing me. "Quiet," he whispered, "and I will answer questions later."

"P-p-p-rom-m-m-mise?" I asked, trembling with cold.

He nodded before sweeping out of the room with such grace that it was amazing.

A minute later, Sophie reappeared with dry clothing, helping me put it on before rushing off again to call for hot water to be brought to the bathroom.

After my hot bath, I sat on my bed, just thinking about the events of the day. It was only mid-afternoon, although the sun still hadn't unveiled its brilliant rays. Sophie had wrapped me in thick blankets before running off to do who-knows-what. She had been very quiet and un-Sophie-like the last two days. I wonder why…Anyways, where was I? Yes, the events of the day.

I realized just then how unnatural it was for Jasper to be able to so gracefully and lithely climb to the roof of the castle walls with a shovel in hand. It was also unnatural for all of the Cullens to be able to throw snowballs at such a frequent interval, as well as for Edward to run so fast that none of the snowballs were able to hit him. In fact, I barely even saw him when he ran. I made a note to myself to ask about vampire powers and abilities when I had the chance. Sometimes the stubbornness of Edward annoys me. Even a sick cow could answer questions better than he did, and that was no easy feat to achieve. Believe me, I know.

Tell me what you think of it. I can't really make promises on when the next chapter will be posted, because my writer's block hadn't totally gone away yet, and I do want to make the next chapter better to make up for this one. I think, however, it is safe to promise an update in at most a week...So...review. Ideas or suggestions welcomed