*Disclaimer! chello, everyone! sorry i've been a bit slow on the updates, but summer reading has been dragging me down and school starts next week :( but, i've got a couple of chapters saved and all i have to do is edit them a bit. Things are going to get pretty freaking epic if i do say so...so without further ado...

here's the mysterious person with victoria! (any guesses yet?) and then the real chapter! and then goooooo reviewwww! :)

He never knew how good kissers red-heads were until he met her. She was almost good enough to make him forget about why he was out in the woods. "Victoria, take me with you." She stopped immediately.

"Tell me about the Cullens."

"Take me with you."

"Tell me about the Cullens."

"I don't know anything about them other than what I see at school. We don't talk that often."

He didn't see it, but Victoria was this close to snapping his twig neck. But, she reigned herself in. She knew what she could make him do. "Find out more. Then you can come with me."

I Hate Evasions

Remind me to never go to the Cullen house again. Until Angel and Ava leave for their honeymoon, I will not be making any appearances in that house.

Not only was I stuffed to the brim with all flavors of cake, I was also stuffed into a bridesmaid dress that now has to be taken out because of the multitudes of cake I ate. Talk about a hit to your self-confidence! But, while I was there, I couldn't seem to get away from Marcus fast enough whenever he came close enough to try to talk to me again. I probably could have worked off the cake had Alice not forced me to try ten different entrées as well. I can see why Edward made up a phony message to get me to come over. I would want out of that loony bin too if I lived there. But, I don't yet.

Thank God.

So, I went home with a stomach-ache and four more pieces of cake to pawn off to Seth, Leah, Uncle Charlie, and Sue. They agreed that the chocolate should be served at the wedding, which, after twenty different slices of cake, I don't think I'll be eating ever again.

I couldn't even eat regular food the next day at school during lunch. I was still stuffed, so I just made my way with a water bottle. All of the seniors were pacing around the different tables to buy the things we needed for graduation: class rings, yearbooks, and even the hideous gowns for the actual ceremony. Plus, a couple of people were buying prom tickets. I actually wanted to go, but everyone was so busy with the wedding plans that I was vetoed. Well, not completely. Alec told me he would accompany me to the "town ball", but as soon as he said that I told him not to worry. He would have his fair share of proms to go to if Britney has her way with him soon enough.

"So, have you sent your announcements, yet?" Angela asked me at lunch. I felt so bad for her. The poor girl did need help. She had about eighty cards she had to hand make out. If that were me, I would be making Ben do a lot more than he is. All he's doing now is reading a comic book while his girlfriend slaves away! What was worse was that the guy born back when chivalry was still very important, aka my ex-boyfriend, was reading the comic with Ben. It's times like these when I really do love being single.

"I didn't want to get carpal tunnel before I was well into my fifties, so I just called my relatives. My parents are bringing my grandma with them when they come, so I'm covered. Maybe you should call some of those people. Your mom would never know."

"That sounds like a great plan! I think I'm going to have to do that. I'm sure my mom actually wants me to be able to write again someday."

"Definitely. But, if she doesn't go for it, I can always come to your house to help you now that I'm officially not grounded anymore!" Well, that's a good as anything way to break it.

"NO WAY! Yay, now you can go to senior prom with all of us this weekend!"

My smile faltered just a little. "Actually, I don't know if I can go to prom. I have a couple of tickets to go visit my parents that Mr. and Mrs. Cullen gave me for my birthday last October, so I thought I should use them before they expired. But, you can tell me all about the prom when I get back. I'm sure Ben has something very romantic planned for you guys." It's so sad that Ben didn't even perk up when I said his name. Men are hopeless.

Alice was suddenly intrigued with the conversation. "Oh, you are going home this weekend?"

"Well, I was, but if there something going on this weekend here, maybe I'll stay here." I had an iron-clad promise from the Cullens that I would be kept entirely within the loop about any and all things Victoria. If Alice started to lie to me, I would not be happy at all. I don't care how freaking busy they were with the wedding. They are telling me everything.

"I haven't seen or heard anything that sounds like it would even be remotely fun. It's just more planning for the wedding for me. But maybe once you get back we can…" I wasn't really paying attention to Alice before, but when her voice trailed off I could guess what was happening.

"Alice? Alice!" Angela and I both yelled at her at the same time, but she looked more curious about our maybe plans and I was worried about what she saw.

"Is it naptime already, Alice?" Edward laughed at her.

"Naptime?" Ava finally sat down with us. She looked curious as well, but I could tell she was on edge too. It might have just been the stress about all of her wedding plans, but I doubt that. All of the Cullens were on edge now because Eclipse had started, which means that the hunt for Victoria has started as well.

Alice looked particularly worried for a second, but smiled before Angela could pick up on it. "Sorry, I was daydreaming, I guess. So, guess what everyone? I've decided to throw a party." Well, it was pretty obvious that I wasn't going to get her attention after that little announcement. Everyone, even Lauren and Jessica from the other table, came to receive their invitations to the Cullen's graduation party. Apparently, their house was something of a legend. Even Mike Newton looked enthused about getting an invite. I wonder if he'll take Jessica as a date or something.

Never mind, I don't want to know.

The rest of the day was filled with moments of me almost catching Alice or Edward in the hallway, but never quite getting them. Ava, on the other hand, was just as in the dark about Alice's epic vision as I was. "I hate being out of the freaking loop!" I complained to her as we were walking out of school. Edward was already by his car talking to Mike Newton about his car, I guess. He better tell me about that vision or I swear I will beat him up from here to Seattle.

"You're telling me. I want to know which one of us won valedictorian now!" Okay, actually I forgot to tell her about that one. I sort of got an e-mail from the principal yesterday about it, and, well, I sort of won. Yay me! I just haven't had the guts to tell her. He told me in the e-mail that the other people up for it would receive their rejection e-mails later.

"Right…I can't wait. So, do you think Victoria's coming this weekend?"

For a second, I thought Ava might crush the binders she was holding. "If she does…I'll be the one to rip her head off. That bitch is going to pay for what James did to me and for what she did to my car!"

"Your car?"

"She's the one that made me run off the road back home! If she hadn't I could have made it to your house before James could have gotten to either of us." Whoa, Ava's on the hunt for Vicky. Well, at least I know she'll be handy if we have to fight her. She'll have her down within seconds.

We had to cut our conversation short since we reached where Mike and Edward were talking about cars still. "…but I just replaced the battery." Mike looked freaked out by Edward talking to him. I was pretty freaked out myself. I thought Edward would have avoided that conversation since it was in the book!

"Perhaps it's the cables?"

"Maybe. I really don't know anything about cars. I need to have someone look at it, but I can't afford to take it to Dowling's."

"I know a few things—I could take a look, if you like. Just let me drop the girls off at home."

"Edward, you know as well as I do that you suck at cars. If you want someone good you should ask Rosalie to help you, Mike. Or, well, you should ask her when she comes home for summer vacation since she's at college and everything." I had to interrupt. This was too strange for me to even comprehend.

"Er…right. I'll talk to you guys later." Mike mumbled and ran off to his car.

I turned on Edward as soon as Mike was out of earshot. "What the hell, Edward? Alice had some huge vision about Victoria coming into town this weekend and you went and avoided me all day?"

"I should have warned you that she'd be mad, Edward." Alice skipped in beside me. "Just ask her if she wants to get out of town this weekend already. It'll make her angrier, but you should just get it over with instead of making Charlie mad about it too." Well, there you go. Alice is right. He should just get it over with. I mean, I do need to use those tickets, but I want to be asked to go, not forced like in the book!

Edward got that frustrated look he's gotten lately whenever we talk about anything to do with Victoria. "Bella, do you have any plans for this weekend?" He asked through clenched teeth. If he wants to fight, he can bring it.

"As a matter of fact, I was thinking about going to visit my parents. That is, unless an evil vampire is going to be in town and everyone in your family are going to go chase her around the woods. If that's the case, I'm going home and finding Seth and getting him to help me drag the rest of the werewolves to some sort of meeting place and all of you are going to strategize on how to catch said evil vampire." Everyone's eyes were on mine, but I didn't break my glare with Edward. He didn't appear to be angry, but there was something under the surface that I was missing.

Eventually, he broke the silence, but with something that made everyone go into shock for about twenty minutes. "Where should we meet them?"

Ava looked completely thrown. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I think Bella has a valid point and we could avoid a fight between Paul and Emmett if we work together ahead of time." This is true. Not that it wouldn't be freaking hilarious to watch Emmett get into a fight, I just would like to be the one he's fighting. Plus, I warned him after he finished reading the book that if he did something stupid like that I would beat him up the second I woke up as a vampire. I totally scared the crap out of him.

I was still a little thrown, but I had to be thorough. "So, where should I meet you?"

"Call us and we'll find you." Edward got into his car without one of those fleeting looks that I love when he does so much. Okay, how did he go from almost kissing me yesterday to being all business today? Maybe he heard that I won valedictorian in the principal's mind and he's mad I haven't told Ava yet, but surely Alice knows too so that can't be it.

I would have thought Alice to be upset about having to deal with the wolves, but she was grinning as she got into the Volvo. "Alice, what are you so happy about?"

Her grin got wider when she saw that I was really confused. "Oh, Bella, if I told you now it would ruin the surprise. Hurry up with the wolves, will you? I want to get them out of the way." Alice has ceased to be helpful.

"Okay…fine." Wow, that was shockingly easy. Unexpectedly so. I thought Edward would put up a fight so loud and forceful that I would have to get Emmett and Angel to hold him down before he actually listened to me, but I know there was something he was thinking about. Something that made him shut off his more…jealous side…that I thought would come out when I talked about getting help from Jacob. And, you know, I bet whatever it was Edward was thinking about, Alice was thinking about the same thing. I think I smell a rat.

And Alice knows something about that rat.

I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on by the time I got home and barged into Seth's room. I knew he would be home by now, so I didn't feel like it was an intrusion if I didn't knock before entering. Besides, he barged into my room all the time. "Bella! What are you doing in here?" I caught him with half of his body out of his window. Looks like someone was trying to make a break for it.

"What's up, Seth? Going somewhere?"

"Oh, you know, just the usual patrolling and running. Sam's got some of us running double duty on that stuff because of that red-head that's after you."

"I thought Sam ordered you to stay home and study."

Seth blanched at the thought. "Yeah, well, he didn't tell me what I had to do after I finished studying."

I rolled my eyes at his eagerness, but at the same time I commended him for his brilliant way to go around Sam's order. I love it when Seth outsmarts Sam. "You're ridiculous, but it comes in handy today. I need you to get a message to all the pack right away. You know how I know all the stuff that's going to happen? Well, this weekend Victoria's coming to town and there might be a fight between Paul and Emmett if we can't work everything out beforehand. I need you to convince Sam to meet with me and the Cullens at their baseball field, okay? Like pronto. We have to work out some sort of plan and we have to do it tonight."

Seth was way too eager to jump out of his window. I pretty sure he might just do it for the fun of it soon. "Sure sure! But, why didn't you get Jacob to do this for you? He's the beta, you know."

Why are all the men in this house so freaking obsessed with Jacob? "Yeah, I know, but Jacob's not speaking to me at the moment. Plus, I like you better. So, can you go now, please?" I threw him a smile just so he wouldn't try asking me about why Jacob wasn't speaking to me. He should know, though, unless Jacob isn't thinking about me which would be really good. For him, I mean. If he's not thinking about me that means he doesn't love me which means I'm off the hook with trying to figure out what I'm going to do about him!

"Yeah, I'll go, but you have to promise something to do something for me in return."

This'll be good. "Such as?"

"You have to talk to Jacob while we're there. He won't stop thinking about you and you know when we're wolves we can hear each other's thoughts, so we all have to hear it all the time. It's kind of annoying." Damn it. "I tried telling him that you and Edward were still into each other, but Edward told me not to say that when I saw him outside the last night."

"WAIT A MINUTE! Edward told you not to say that he and I were—well, that we're not—" Oh, my God. Edward doesn't like me anymore! That's why he was so distant today at school. I waited too long to get back together with him and now he doesn't love me at all anymore! Oh, dear God I think I'm going to have a stroke. "Well, I suppose he didn't want to say anything about that so he could make Jacob feel better. You know, he's really trying to be good about that. None of that big rivalry between them over me because it's childish really when you think about it…" Yep, I'm definitely having a stroke. "But to say that there wasn't anything going on between us! Is he trying to make me go insane? Of course I love him and I thought he still loved me, but if I was wrong I think I might just—"

"Yeah, Bella, I think I'll go now."

"BUT, WAIT A MINUTE, WHY WAS HE HERE LAST NIGHT? WHY THE HELL IS HE STILL HANGING AROUND HERE AT NIGHT WATCHING ME SLEEP LIKE THE CREEPER-SLASH-STALKER HE IS?"

"I'm just gonna go now."

"So, he doesn't love me but he still enjoys stalking me as a pastime. How does this make any sort of logical sense at all? I mean, there has to be some sort of love involved if he still takes enjoyment in listening to my nighttime babble, which must consist of me saying his name or Jacob's name since that's all I've been freaking dreaming about for a month!" Wow, I can sure scream. I wonder how Seth is taking all of this new information spouting randomly from my mouth. "Seth? Seth, where the hell are you?" The little twerp left!

On second thought, this is a good thing. He's gone which means I can go to the Cullens' house and get them to the baseball field and I can obsess over Edward possibly not loving me anymore while I'm there.

God, and now I have to write a valedictorian speech! And tell my best friend that I beat her for the spot! Well, at least things can't get any worse.

"So, it's agreed. You'll try as best you can to push her into our territory and we'll finish her off. If she gets past us, then you will temporarily allow Emmett, Ava, and Jasper to cross into your territory and into the ocean to chase after her. Shall we shake on it?" Carlisle stuck his hand out for Sam to 'shake' his paw with. Pretty much all the wolves showed up in their wolf form because they didn't trust the Cullens. Stupid mutts. I figured they wouldn't show up in their glorious shirtless forms, but I was still slightly disappointed when Jacob didn't even come. It was just Sam, Paul, Jared, and Seth.

Then again, it was just me, Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, and Edward that came to represent the Cullens. This is so stupid. I don't understand why the wolves and the rest of the Cullens are so ridiculously stubborn about being around one another. Although, I bet Jacob didn't come just to make me angry. The one good thing about him not coming was that I got to throw Seth the ha ha you can't make me talk to him because he's not here look.

"He's not going to shake your hand, Carlisle, but he agrees to everything you said." Okay, Edward obviously did not want to be here. Carlisle probably just forced him to come because he could tell what the wolves were all thinking. Luckily for me, despite my new power to sometimes read other people's minds, he still can't read mine. Which means he couldn't hear me think about whether or not he loves me. Yay, my non-readable mind!

Alice started tapping her foot. "Can we leave now? I still have to choose a china pattern tonight before Ava chooses herself, and the last time I did that she ended up in Vegas."

"God forbid they should do that again." I muttered. I wish they would just run off to Vegas again. It was the single most hilarious day in the entire history of the world when Alice got the note from Angel and Ava that they had eloped. I, being Ava's best and most trusted friend, already knew before Alice had gotten the note what they'd done. Ava's power even worked to block out Alice's vision of them leaving. I thought their plan was amazing, and I had wanted to use it for my own purposes when the time came for me and Edward, but I guess that's just not going to happen. He hasn't even acknowledged that I was here!

The big jerk! How could he not care about me after being caught almost kissing just one freaking day ago? Oh, my God, I think I'm going to cry. Or try being the hulk again. I think I'll go rip something up once I finish crying!

"Bella?" Huh, what? Oh, crap, I forgot about Jasper. Maybe Edward can't read my mind when I'm thinking about him, but Jasper can pretty much tell what my thoughts are since he can pick up on my feelings. "Are you okay?"

Cover it up. Cover it up! Think of kittens…and puppies…and wolf pups! Crap it! Wolves! Jacob! Triangle! Edward doesn't love me! Jacob's going to win! But I don't want him to win! I want Edward to win, but he doesn't like me! Oh, good God, I suck at this. "I'm perfectly…okay."

"No, you're not." Damn, he isn't going to let this go.

What should I do? "Alice!" He can't call me out on anything if he can't talk to me. "Hey, so since I agreed I would go out of town this weekend, do you want to use the companion ticket? I didn't know who else to ask so…"

"Oh, Bella! I would love to go with you. Your mom and I got along so well last time, but you know how much of a rush we're in with Ava's wedding. I simply couldn't leave her alone with everything's that needs to be done." She's got that evil glint in her eyes that she did today in the parking lot. She is totally planning something and I desperately want to know what it is. "Plus, someone has to console poor Ava when she gets that rejection e-mail from the principal. You haven't gotten an e-mail from him yet, have you?" I could totally slap her right now if I didn't value what little safety I had. And I had come over here to save myself from Jasper! "It would be a shame for her to learn that her best friend since forever didn't tell her that she had lost to said best friend."

Crap it! "You wouldn't."

Alice Cullen is a wicked, evil little vampire! She grinned at me. "You know, I think Edward's free this weekend, aren't you?" She whipped around to Edward, who was only a few paces away from us. From the looks of everything, I guess the wolves took off a few minutes ago. That means Edward probably heard everything.

"Bella, you're valedictorian?" Yep, he heard everything.

I just shrugged it off like it's not a big deal. "Yeah, I just got the news a few days ago. Go me!" Oh, so now he's talking to me? Nice one, Eddie.

"Congratulations, I knew you would win." He smiled at me, but I can definitely tell there's still something he's not telling me. There's something shifty about the way he won't exactly look me in the eye. He sends a worried look towards Alice, and all my suspicions just spiked through the roof. Whatever it is that has Alice so jazzed is the same thing that has Edward acting like a total goon.

"Thanks." I'm so going to bust them. I just don't know what I'm busting them for. Maybe I could get Alec to spy on them for me in exchange for a ticket for Britney to come here. Wait, I don't have any money. Crap. Well, maybe I could just go and ask them what's going on because, after all, honesty is the best policy, right? Aw, hell. Who am I kidding? I should just force the answer out of them with Ava's help because she would be on my side, of course.

But my side of what? God, I am so confused.

Jasper made us all jump by having a random hissy fit. "Alright, Bella, there is something sincerely wrong with you right now. You are all over the place! You just went from angry to suspicious to angry again to elated to confused. And now you're all startled, but I'm guessing that's because of me." Whoops, did the collective glare from me, Edward, and Alice make Jasper shut the heck up over my apparent mental issues? Well, damn.

"I'm fine, Jasper. Really, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Whatever you say, Bella. You probably shouldn't keep those feelings bottled up."

"Shut up, Jasper!" I muttered.

Carlisle thankfully broke up the party. I couldn't even run away from them. They would all have caught up with me too quickly. "Come on, guys. Stop berating Bella. She's done quite a lot for us and we've even got a bit of a truce with the wolves because of her. I think she deserves a little slack." He drew me away from the others and we walked back towards Emmett's borrowed Jeep. I guess I would have to face Edward again since he was the one who drove the Jeep here and I needed a ride back.

"Thanks for the save, Carlisle. I thought I had been thrown to the wolves for a second."

Carlisle chucked at my obvious joke. "No problem, Bella. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I thought I caught you saying something about going out of town this weekend. Are you planning on finally using the tickets that Esme and I bought for your birthday?"

"Yeah, that's what happened in the book. I didn't want to be in your way while everyone's trying to hunt Victoria. I'd sort of be in the way."

"Bella, you could never be in the way. You'd be a valuable asset for us."

"Thanks, but you know that's not true. I'd be holding everyone back because they'd be worried Victoria could somehow come after me if I'm alone. Plus, I have to work on my speech for graduation and tell my parents the good news."

"Of course." Oh, thank God. I thought for a second, Carlisle might say something about telling Ava like Alice had. But, of course, that's ridiculous because he's the compassionate one. "Well, who are you going to take with you?" I froze. "The companion ticket was actually for Edward originally, but if you'd rather not take him, I'm sure someone else would love to go with you."

Edward was suddenly right next to me. "No, I'm going with her. Alice tells me I'd just be in the way as well. We might as well be out of the way together."

I'm turning into a skeptic. It must be because I'm under so much stress. "Um, yeah…sure. That sounds…great."

Edward seems marginally happier whenever he's not around Alice. God, what is that little pixie planning? "What? You don't think your parents will be happy to see me?"

"Oh, no! I'm sure my mom will be thrilled that we're there…together. On the other hand, my dad's still pretty pissed that you left and broke my heart back around my birthday, but he'll probably keep a happy face on." I know I'm sure as hell going to have to.

Crap it, I've made Edward retreat into that brooding place of his that he must have made while he was gone. "I didn't realize your parents knew about everything that happened."

"They don't. They just know that you left, I had to save you from something a few months later, and we're still broken up despite all of that. But, I suppose, if you come with me my mom is going to think that we're back together." Oh, well! I can live with that! If I didn't have such great self-control, I would be smiling from cheek to cheek right now, but I've watched the Twilight movies too many times and I can imitate Kristen Stewart to a tee now.

"I see. Well, we'll just have to show her through our actions that we're obviously not together."

"Right because we're not. Together, that is."

"Unless you want to be."

"I don't." God, I am such a liar. I wonder if vampires can tell when people are lying.

"And I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do." I guess not.

"It's not like I wouldn't want to be your girlfriend again, it's just that I don't think I'm ready and there's still the whole thing with me trying to figure out exactly who it is I am, and the whole thing with Victoria is more important than just you or me right now."

Edward nodded and started in his business voice again. "Of course. She's killing innocent people, and we have to put a stop to that."

Well, if he's going to be business-y, then I will be too. "Right. But say the rest of your family actually catches her this weekend…I might, you know, be available—" Okay, so I lied about being business-y. I just can't help but think if Victoria got caught this weekend, everything would be great. I could focus on school, and then focus on my romantic issues.

"For a date?" I swear, he can read my mind. He's totally been lying about it since we met.

Oh, God, I'm blushing so freaking hard right now. "Or just, you know, a friendly study thing that's like a date because, you know, I'm really busy now with all of my college stuff and now I have to write the speech for graduation and I really have no earthly idea what to say, so maybe you could help me with that since you've been to like eighty gazillion graduations. You must have some good ideas after hearing so many speeches."

Damn it, he's totally laughing at me. I can tell. Those golden eyes are sparkling with amusement which, of course, makes me blush even harder. "Of course. I'd love to help you. I'm sure Ava will want to help you too."

Double damn it. "Yeah, I really need to tell her about that."

"As they say, there's no time like the present." Alright, now he's just plain making fun of me.

"That's funny coming from an immortal vampire." Edward's laugh is so not helping with the whole blushing thing. God, it's like we're back at the very beginning of everything. Although, I doubt I ever blushed this much when I was still pretending that I didn't know Edward was a vampire.

"Come on. Ava won't hurt you. She'll be a little upset, but she'll probably be relieved that she'll have more time to work on her wedding this way. But, if it makes you feel any better, I'll protect you no matter what."

Triple damn it. I think my heart just gave out when he said that. Why does he have to do this to me? I really do need to be a vampire soon or he's going to kill me anyway!

"Okay, if you promise you'll be close enough just in case she attacks me."

He laughed again, and at the same time, brushed away a stray hair that had fallen into my face during my epic blush-fest. "I'll always be here for you."

Great. Thanks for that, Edward. It was sweet, but now I'm not going to be getting any sleep this entire weekend.

Let's take a look at my checklist: Tell best friend that you beat her for valedictorian of the first high school that either of you will ever graduate from, write speech for graduation because of being the valedictorian, figure out what Alice is planning, get the truth about what Alice is planning and how it relates to Edward from Edward while on the five hour plane rides, figure out what to tell Marcus, get Britney to leave me alone and talk to Alec more, lose the five pounds of cake weight to fit into bridesmaid dress, and pray that the Cullens catch Victoria this weekend so I don't have to deal with her anymore.

It's no wonder that Jasper thinks I'm going insane!

Poor Jasper, he'll never understand the turmoil that goes on in Bella's head...anywhoooo! gooooo reviewww!

Preview for the next chapter:

Deep breath. "Okay, I can do this. I'm just going to go in there and be mature about it. I'll be calm and cavalier and act like it doesn't bother me at all." Ha, like that's actually going to work.

"Good, that's perfect. It'll drive him up the wall, and it'll provide great entertainment for me."

I'm choosing to ignore that. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this."

"I'm glad you think so, because here comes the double whammy."