Second chapter time. Not sure if this one's as good, but I hope you all like it. Thanks for reading so far. Again, I'll try and reply to reviews when I have time. Huge thank-you to those who have left them.

Disclaimer: All things Twilight are property of Stephenie Meyer

Chapter 2

In long, easy strides, Edward kept up with Alice's short legs with little effort. She was hurrying ahead of him like they were being chased by a mass murderer and breaking into a run meant certain death. Still, he followed her without question until she stopped behind the Gym, where no one could see them. The stop was so sudden that Edward almost knocked into her, but she was so lost in her own mutterings she didn't even notice.

Her lips moved quickly as low words Edward could not distinguish tumbled from them. Her small feet carried her as she paced in front of him, side to side in constant motion. Her hands were pressed to her temples, moving in a slow, circular motion. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Alice was planning something. Eventually, her words began to make some sense.

"She was with Jessica Stanley... won't get... Newton could cause problems... doesn't look like she'd like that... especially with Lauren," she mumbled. It was dizzying to watch her move this much this quickly.

"Alice?" Edward tried hesitantly. She held up one of her hands momentarily to stop him, and then returned it to her temple. He didn't press her. Instead, he sighed and rocked back and forth on his heels slowly, waiting for her to finish. Her words became even more disjointed and he knew she was coming to her conclusion.

Obviously this was about Isabella Swan. Well, more about the Hales really, but Isabella was an important part of this particular equation. The new girl, what a novelty, Edward thought to himself. Honestly, he didn't see the problem with her. She was pretty enough, decent body, but nothing to get worked up about. Apparently, the boys at Forks High School didn't agree with him. It wouldn't be the first time. They were already chasing after her, and the disappointed sigh that emitted from the half on the Cullen side of the cafeteria was audible when she sat beside Mike Newton and his crowd. Edward wasn't even sure why Alice thought she deserved the attention she was getting.

"Got it," his sister shouted gleefully. Her face was lit up with excitement, but her eyes betrayed her true nature. It was more than mischief in there.

"Enlighten me, please," Edward replied, his voice laden with sarcasm. "I am simply dying with suspense over here." Alice's face dropped into a more serious expression. Edward just rolled his eyes.

"This is important, Edward. Don't you get it?" she asked, slowly placing her hands on her hips. "Isabella Swan is-"

"Just another girl, Alice, let them have her." Alice froze and her eyes bulged. She sucked in a deep breathe, indicating that Edward had probably said the wrong thing.

"Let them have her?" she seethed. He had definitely said the wrong thing. "Are you shitting me? You expect me to sit back and let Rosalie Hale, Queen of Fucking Everything, think she's better than us? And what about Jasper, did you not see his face today? It was disgusting! We cannot let them get away this." She was furious now, but not at him, at the Hales. The emotion in her eyes was so intense it made Edward feel guilty for not feeling the same way. He tried to get himself worked up. She was right, seeing the pure, unadulterated arrogance on Jasper Hale's face today had made his stomach twist into knots. It was that same look Alice and him had wiped off the face of the two barbie twins the year they'd arrived. When it had been long overdue.

Alice could sense his anger was growing. "So, are you in?" Her eyebrows lifted in hope. "Ready to know those bastards off their small-town pedestals for the final time?"

Edward thought about it for a moment. As much as he would love to see the bitter disappointment on their faces, there was still one thing he didn't get. "Why is this girl so important?" he voiced his qualm out loud.

"She's the last one," Alice stated simply. "If everything goes according to plan, we will never have the bad fortune to encounter the Hales once we leave Forks, so Isabella Swan is the last person who will have to choose." She had been bouncing about for the past few minutes, but now she stood still. "It's the last fight." She put heavy emphasis on the last two syllables, making clear how important this was to her.

The bell rang and the simultaneous movement of hundreds of students could be heard. Alice did not let him break eye contact.

"I'll think about it," he finally conceded, to appease Alice, if for nothing else. It was enough for her.

"Brilliant," she grinned. "When you've decided, I'll tell you my plans." Before Edward had a chance to call her out on her conviction of his participation, she had danced off join the students milling out of the doors of the red brick building. "And call her Bella," she shouted to finish, throwing him her usual all-knowing smirk.

A laugh escaped through his lips. Once Alice had a notion in her head, there was no way of deterring her. She was unwavering in her determination and, like an ant, she had an incredible strength that wasn't proportional to the size of her body. That's partly what made her so dangerous, she was unexpected.

But Edward was finding it difficult to agree with her on this point. He just could not see why this one girl was going to make such a difference. However, Alice was nearly always right about things she shouldn't really know anything about, so he would at least consider playing along with whatever devious trouble she had planned. In a worst case scenario, it would at least cause some trouble for the Hales. The way Jasper had been watching that girl at lunch, Edward had not seen that look Jasper's eyes in a long time, and it bothered him. He should be viewing Isabella Swan as little more than a pawn in their twisted mind games, but there was definitely something else on his mind judging by the way his pale eyes lingered over her. Both Alice and Rosalie had missed it, but this just solidified Edward's conviction. If it was something only a fellow teenage boy could recognize, then it meant trouble.

"She's not worth it," Edward mumbled to himself as he stepped into the hallway which would lead him to the Biology lab. He was late, there were no other students about since they were all confined in their classrooms. He picked up the pace.

"Just in time, Edward," Mr Banner greeted him when he rushed through the door. Edward just gave him an apologetic half-smile and headed towards his table, not paying attention to the rest of Mr. Banner's lecture on tardiness. He stopped short just before he reached his usual seat and tuned into the end of what Mr. Banner was saying. "So, I hope you won't mind sharing for the rest of the year?"

The Biology teacher had not been rhyming off one of his speeches to Edward, rather, alerting him to a new addition to the class. There, in the seat that had been empty for the past two years, sat the blushing, ordinary Isabella Swan. She looked at Edward with expectant eyes, and he realized she, and Mr. Banner, were waiting for him to reply.

"No, that's perfectly fine with me," he announced, flashing his winning smile, first at Mr. Banner, then Isabella, whose blush merely intensified. She pulled her seat in closer to the desk and allowed Edward to push past her.

Taking his seat he glanced over at the girl that now sat beside him. The blush had disappeared revealing the porcelain skin Edward had seen from a distance earlier. Up close he could appreciate the contrast of her skin against her hair. Without making it obvious, he studied her as meticulously as he could, trying to understand what her great appeal was. Surely there was something magical about Isabella Swan, which could only be seen upon inspection, that had sent the testosterone-fueled brains of the Forks High School male teenagers into overdrive. All brains except his, that is.

He sat for the first ten minutes of the class trying to come up with any superficial quality she possessed for which she deserved this merit. At the end of his alloted time, there was only one thing he could come up with. She smelled really good. That was is it, her smell. Edward was pretty sure that, on some level, the fact that her smell was the best thing about her was pretty insulting. The next five minutes he spent deciding what exactly the smell was, not content with the title of 'Isabella Swan'. Eventually, he pinpointed strawberry as the main scent which wafted in his direction when she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

Amid his mental wonderings he also came to another conclusion: Isabella was just like the strawberry. Everybody loved the strawberry. The strawberry looked good. The strawberry tasted good, too. Who could say no to a strawberry? Except the strawberry is a common fruit. Even in its beauty, it is very easy to come by. You could drop down to a local market and pick up a whole bunch with absolutely no difficulty. With this, somewhat abstract, comparison in mind, Edward also realized why she attracted so many guys in just one day. Unlike the undeniably beautiful Alice, or the obviously attractive Rosalie, Isabella was attainable. She was the only one within their reach, and Jasper Hale was going to ruin all their fun.

It was then Edward remembered something Alice had said to him earlier. Not noticing himself voicing the thoughts aloud, Edward said quietly, "Call her Bella."

"I'm sorry?" Edward was snapped out of his internal observations by a soft voice. Isabella- Bella Swan was looking at him, her brown eyes questioning. You just said her name, Edward mentally kicked himself. Of course she's going to think you're talking to her.

He decided to recover in the only way he knew how, by pretending he had done it on purpose. "Bella, that's your name, right?" If he acted like this was what he said in the first place, she wouldn't know how stupid he felt at that moment.

"Yeah," she replied. Edward noticed a line appear between her eyebrows when they puckered in confusion. "But how did you know to call me Bella? I mean, yeah, it's my name, but most people didn't realize. How... ?"

She looked up at him as her voice tailed off, her eyes holding the same curiosity as before. Edward was caught off guard by how wide they grew in their innocent questioning. He was stuck. On the one hand, he did not want to reveal Alice and her stalker-like tendencies. However, on the other, the only coherent sentence his brain seemed to be able to string together when under the interrogation from these two intense, brown eyes was 'You smell like strawberries.'Thankfully, he in control of his vocal chords enough this time to keep that particular thought private.

Bella drew back from him slightly, and Edward became aware that he still hadn't answered her question. The bell rang before he could continue what was the strangest conversation he had ever had, if it could even be called that, giving Bella just enough time cast another confused look in his direction before Mike Newton came scurrying over. Newton pulled Bella away very quickly, looking just as put out as she did. Edward quickly picked up his books and tried to follow them out the door in an attempt regain some sense of normality. He put on a show of running his hand through his hair. Close by, a girl's breathing hitched. There, normality.

However, something Mike attempted to whisper subtly to Bella made him stop dead in his tracks.

"What did I tell you? Completely gay," he said louder than intended. Bella cautiously glanced over her shoulder to look at Edward, only to turn away the instant her eyes met his. Even from behind he could see her face turn red.

They were out of both ear and eyeshot before they continued their conversation, while Edward remained rooted in the Biology lab. When he willed his feet to move enough to carry himself out of the room he was not surprised to find Alice waiting for him.

"I am not gay," he told her. He turned and marched up the hall, Alice keeping in stride. "I am not gay," he reiterated with more fervor. He didn't know why it annoyed him so much, he'd heard all the rumors before.

"I know you aren't," Alice assured him, patting him on the arm. She couldn't disguise the delight in her tone. "So, now are you ready to take down the Hales for the final time?"

Edward ground his teeth in frustration. On his part, he could foresee this high school battle requiring a lot of effort, effort he wasn't sure was worth expending. However, the vehemence of the hated he felt towards Jasper Hale at that moment was so strong that nothing but the thought of revenge could keep Edward was ripping his throat out there and then. He looked back to Alice, who was practically skipping with excitement.

"Absolutely."

*******

Edward's jaw was beginning to hurt. He had tried to take Alice's advice and relax, but it was impossible. Whenever he did manage to forget what had passed after Biology, a whispered "Jasper", "Hale" or "Bella" would travel across the classroom and trigger this new reflex. It was only made worse by the fact that seated, not surprisingly, at the opposite side of the classroom were the sources of his anger. The only way Edward could ensure they didn't see how their petty mind games had affected him was to ignore them completely. This was not hard, in fact, it was preferable.

"I can't believe Mike Newton told her I way gay," Edward spat, turning his keys and feeling the movement of the car beneath him as it sprang to life. Finally, he could escape this hell hole. Beside him Alice sat up in her seat, staring at him incredulously. "What?" he eventually conceded to ask when it was clear she wasn't going to say something herself.

Alice turned back so she faced forwards again. Within a second she was back up in her seat, typically restless. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you're finally agreeing to go along with my plan-"

"Which you still haven't told me," he reminded her. This wouldn't be the last time he'd have to do it.

"Whatever, I'll get to it." She rolled her eyes at him. "The point is, as much as I hate to question any motives of hated directed at Jasper Hale," she paused again to size him up with her eyes, "why is this bothering you so much?"

Truthfully, Edward could not answer that question. The gay rumor had been circulating long before Bella Swan arrived at Forks and so far he had found it little more than amusing, if not unimaginative. Just because he didn't take his pick from the fine selection of females in Forks, he was automatically a homosexual. Or asexual, depending on what day of the week it was and who Jasper had been talking to. Before now, he honestly hadn't cared. That changed the moment Bella Swan had looked back at him in Biology; she was deciding whether or not it was true.

The familiar gravel of home that rolled beneath his tires provided him with some comfort and Edward directed the car into the garage in silence. He didn't even consider that Alice had let him go without an answer. So, when he pulled himself out of his own seat and walked over to open Alice's door for her, he hovered for a moment before, not yet closing it behind her again. She gave him a blank look, knowing what was coming.

"I don't know," he said, not meeting her eyes. In his peripheral he noticed her lips tighten. With one swift move she strode over and pushed the door Edward was still holding the edges of closed. It shut with a resounding slam under her considerable force. It was so quick that Edward missed losing the tips of his fingers by half a second and a quick reaction. Alice's expression was unchanged as she glared up at him.

"Figure it out," she ordered in a cold tone, emphasizing the first word. She stepped passed him again and through the door which led to the rest of the house.

Edward gripped the side of his car and pulled himself forward so the his forehead rested against the cool metal. It soothed his throbbing head. When Alice was mad at you, things were seriously dire, and Edward knew it. He took a minute to pull himself together somewhat and walked through the same door Alice had, following her voice to the kitchen where she was mid-conversation with their mother.

"Six thirty, dear," he heard Esme answer an unknown question. "So, how was you day?" It was the usual routine; Alice and Edward would arrive home, Esme would be waiting in the kitchen they would ask one another how their day was and then retire to their separate rooms. Carlisle would come home just in time for dinner and they would repeat their previous conversation, this time at the dinner table. Alice was half way through her reply when they came into Edward's view.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. I got a 92 in my English paper, the Hales were bastards-"

"Alice," Esme warned.

"They were, and are," she justified in response. At this point Edward stepped into the kitchen. He ignored Alice, who was sitting at the breakfast bar, and gave Esme her standard kiss on the cheek. Alice narrowed her eyes and continued, "And Edward was frustrated. Big surprise." Edward glared at her, but it only provoked her to go further. "Oh, but not just sexually today, mother, mentally, too."

"Alice!" Esme reprimanded, although she gave Edward a once over, to make her own assessment. He headache was growing.

"I'm going to my room," he called, leaving as fast as he could. "What time is dinner-"

"Six thirty," shouted Esme, cutting him off. "I swear, if I had a dollar.... "

He didn't hear her finish as his heavy door insulated him room of extraneous family noise. It was something he had become overtly grateful of.

Throwing himself on him bed he shut his eyes and tried to forget everything that had passed in the last couple of hours. He didn't expect to be successful, and perhaps that's why he wasn't. Or else it was because he knew any efforts would be futile, as, any moment now, Alice would be knocking on his door and reminding him of everything all over again. Why suffer through it twice? Either way, unwelcome thoughts of Jasper Hale, Mike Newton and Bella Swan swam through his head. They were the worst painkillers.

Even if no one else knew his sister, he certainly did. Edward was not aware of how long it took, but at some point a soft rapping emitted from his door. Typically, Alice didn't wait for his approval and poked her head in, followed by the rest of her body. Her face betrayed no signs of apology. She was still mad at him. However, she also needed him to help her in her plans, and whatever resentment she felt towards Edward was always engulfed by her hatred for Jasper and Rosalie Hale.

She had come to tell him her plan.

End of Chapter 2