Author's Note: Thanks for all my reviews and positive feedback! I'm so glad people like the story idea. Now, this chapter is dedicated to vjgm, whose creative mind came up with two of the funnier personal ads in this chapter! Big thanks to her for helping me and allowing me to use them for my story!

"Back up! Back up!" Jessica shouted. But once she stepped out of the door, hands flew everywhere trying to grab a newspaper. I shouldn't have been surprised when Alice crawled between someone's legs, with one between her teeth.

"Got one!" she said waving to me and Rose. "C'mon, we have to read them all!"

2

After Alice practically dragged us into my house, we all sprawled out on the floor with the newspaper in front of us. Alice and Rose were bouncing with anticipation; I on the other hand was a little aggravated and couldn't get the feeling that this was absolutely ridiculous out of my head. But I guess it would be funny to read all the personal ads and see how people described themselves.

"This is so exciting!" cried Alice, as she flipped through to the last page. I sort of felt bad for the people who actually wrote serious articles for the school paper, clearly no one would be reading them this week. "Here they are!" she sang, flattening out the page with her hand.

'Valentine's Day Personal Ads – Which one is your Soul Mate?' was plastered on the top of the page in big bright red letters. Below it were rows and rows of personal ads. I had to scoff at the word soul mate, who were they kidding? Kids were probably totally going to get their hopes up for nothing. I knew one thing for certain; I was not going to be one of them.

"OH MY GOD!" shrieked Rose, "Look at this one!" She pointed out the second paragraph on the page.

Hometown n' Handsome seeks Unique Woman

Loves outdoor activities and kissable lips

Hates competition and not getting what I want

Looking for that special girl who will finally

Know that I am the perfect person for her.

"Hometown n' Handsome' Box #49

"That is SO Mike Newton talking about you Bella!" laughed Alice loudly. "GOD, could he be any more obvious!? Kissable lips!?" Her and Rose fell into a fit of laughter while I read the paragraph with disgust.

"Ugh, gross," I mumbled angrily. "When will he ever take the hint?"

"Seriously," agreed Rose once she calmed down. She ran her finger over more of the personal ads. "Here's ours!" she suddenly shouted happily, pointing to the middle of the second row. Sure enough, our three ads were smack dab in the middle. I hope ours weren't as easy to figure out as Mike Newton's had been.

"Ew! Read this one!" said Alice, starting to laugh again.

Black Widow seeks Next Victim

Likes Being in Charge, and Getting Her Way

Hates Rules, the Word 'No' and Tightie Whities

Looking for someone who will

Put up with her crap until the end.

"Black Widow" Box #14

"That is SO creepy!" I said in astonishment. "What kind of people is she looking to attract with that ad? Some of the things these people were writing were incredible! We searched our minds to try and figure out who would have wrote that, but we came up empty.

"Listen to this!" howled Alice, pointing to an ad near the bottom.

Smokin' Hot Guy seeks Fantastic Female

Loves Video Games, Mirrors and Computers

Hates Most People and Whining

Looking for someone who can

Help him look smarter.

"Smokin' Hot Guy" Box #77

"Video games and computers?" snarled Rosalie. "He's probably some geek from the Science Club. Alice, this was such a dumb idea, none of these people are even remotely interesting, they all sound like stalkers."

We read through most of the ads, and they seemed to be getting funnier and more terrifying all at the same time. One girl admitted that she was a neurotic clean freak that was looking for someone to carry her broom. Surprisingly, the ads that we had written seemed the most normal, if that was even possible.

"I wonder who's going to write to us," mused Alice after we had closed the newspaper. We got back on the couch to settle in and watch Oprah. Rosalie walked out of the kitchen carrying a big box of mini muffins.

"Probably everyone," she said squeezing in between us. "Our ads are definitely the best; I wouldn't be surprised if our boxes are full by the end of the day tomorrow."

I nodded in agreement and grabbed a muffin. "That's exactly what I was thinking. But there's no way I'm writing any of those people letters. I know for a fact that my soul mate is not walking around the halls of Forks High School."

"Me either, let those fools come to me," agreed Rosalie.

"Hey Bella, can I borrow your printer?" said Alice, leaning around Rose to catch my gaze.

"Sure, for what?" I asked calmly. But once the words left my lips, I knew exactly why she needed it. So did Rose.

"Who are you going to write to?" cried Rosalie, "None of those people sounded good enough for you Alice."

"I'm writing to everyone," she answered in a dignified tone. "I mean why not? They deserve a second chance. Just because they couldn't write a decent ad, doesn't mean that they aren't great people."

Rosalie and I shared a glance and shook our head while Alice bounded up the staircase to my computer. About half hour later, she had a stack of about 200 papers in her hand, looking quite proud of herself. She stuffed them in her backpack, and joined us on the couch. We finished watching Oprah, and when Charlie came home, we read some of the personal ads to him.

"Who do they allow at this high school?" he said disapprovingly after he read the 'Black Widow's ad. "This sounds like a serial killer could have written this."

"Or a desperate freshman," laughed Rosalie loudly.

At around 9:30 I waved goodbye to them and made my way upstairs. I grabbed the newspaper from the floor and tossed it in the trash can. I really didn't have any further use for it. I was right again; this whole idea was completely pointless.

"Hurry up Bella!" screamed Alice from the passenger seat of Rosalie's car the next morning. "I've got to deliver these notes before anyone else gets there!"

I sighed heavily, but didn't really pick up my pace. I was likely to fall if I went any faster. I jumped in next to Alice, and Rosalie sped out of my driveway.

"So you're really going to give one to each person?" I mused, looking at the folded notes in Alice's lap.

"Yup!" she smiled. "Well…all the guys that is."

We arrived at school and Alice dragged us to the mini gym right away. We were pretty early, so there weren't any responses in anyone's boxes yet. Rosalie and I helped distribute Alice's notes and we were done in about ten minutes.

"There, that's done," said Alice, wiping her hands together. "Now…we wait!"

"Oh joy" muttered Rosalie sarcastically. "This is all so exciting!"

The day ended up going by pretty fast. I couldn't concentrate in any of my classes because everyone was talking about who they wrote to, and how many responses they thought they were going to get. A lot of people had been back to check their boxes after every class, and were already scribbling notes to people that had written to them. It was madness.

I walked into lunch and sat down in my usual seat next to Alice. I looked over and saw that her purse was overflowing with letters.

"Geez Alice! Did every one of those people already write you back!?" I couldn't help but be amazed at how many letters she had.

"Not all," she said seriously. "I haven't went through these yet, and I'm going to go back and check for more after lunch, but I'm waiting for you two to get your letters first. Have you been to check?"

"No," Rosalie and I answered at the same time. But I could tell that Rosalie was looking jealously at Alice's letters, wondering how many she herself was going to get.

"Well, actually you don't really need to go. I've been checking your boxes too. I have all your responses in here," she told us happily, tapping the side of her purse.

"How many do I have?" Rosalie asked automatically, starting to dig through Alice's purse, but Alice was too fast and snatched it away.

"Were going through them together after school!" she cried. "But to answer your question, I think you've got about 6 or 7."

"That's it!" she shrieked angrily, staring at Alice as if she couldn't believe it.

"What do you mean that's it? A lot of people didn't even get any!" Alice retorted. After she said this, my first thought was that I was one of those people. I didn't care about this whole personal ads thing, but I couldn't help the slight disappointment I felt looking at all of my best friend's letters. I stared off into space for a minute, but Alice knew me too well.

"Bella, you've got about the same as Rose. But be careful because one of them is definitely from Mike Newton. He must have figured out who you are because I saw him putting a letter into your box after first period."

I made a face, but I couldn't deny my surprise that I actually had that many responses. I wonder who was that interested by my personal ad? Or if they knew it was me that they were writing to. But my train of thinking was interrupted when I felt someone slide in next to me. Mike Newton.

"So, got any responses yet Bella?" he said carefully, trying to sound indifferent. I heard Rosalie mutter something under her breath causing Alice to burst into laughter.

I tried to ignore them. "I don't know, I haven't really cared to check," I answered quickly, not wanting to make him think that I was interested in getting any letters. I was pretty sure I would be able to tell exactly which one he had written.

"Oh," he said, shoulders slumping a bit. "Well, you never know. You should check anyway."

"Maybe," I responded coolly. I wonder how he figured out who I was. For the rest of lunch, everyone at the table was immersed in conversation. I saw Angela two seats down from me, smiling as she wrote a letter. I sighed heavily. I was really getting really tired of talking about the same thing. "I'm going to class," I said getting up.

"Okay! See you after school," Alice called loudly to my retreating back. I walked out of the cafeteria and let out a deep breath as I leaned against the wall right outside. I put my hands up to my head, feeling a headache coming on. Great, just what I need.

"Are you alright?" said a velvety voice, startling me. I gasped loudly and looked up to see that it was Edward Cullen. He was standing about ten feet away from me with a concerned face.

"Um, sure," I said. "Just got a headache I guess." God he was so handsome. I hope I wasn't staring like an idiot, although I'm pretty sure I was. He didn't speak for a moment, but gave me the same frustrated face as the day before.

"Are you alright?" I asked before I could stop myself. Maybe I annoyed him or something. No, he had come up to talk to me, that couldn't be it. I noticed he looked surprised for a second, but quickly composed himself.

"I'm alright," he answered shifting his feet, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem frustrated about something, you looked that way yesterday too," I added. UGH stupid Bella, I scolded myself. Way to make yourself look like a crazy memory psycho. He had probably forgotten all about yesterday and didn't even know what I was talking about. But his next sentence proved otherwise.

"You're very perceptive, Bella." He gave me a slight smile, but his eyes looked guarded. I could feel my signature blush creeping up my cheeks. God, how embarrassing. I quickly tried to take deep breaths and calm down. But it seemed his smile grew even brighter as he kept looking at me.

"How did you know my name was Bella?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of me.

He shrugged uncomfortably, as if he was nervous about my question. "I don't know, everyone knows I guess," was his answer. I couldn't help but think he was lying. But I decided to let it go, I definitely didn't want to spend this time with him going through an interrogation.

"I'm Edward," he added, moving a bit closer, probably only inches.

"Your new here right?" I said, gazing into his eyes. He had the most beautiful golden eyes I had ever seen. His jaw line was so strong and masculine; I couldn't help but stare at him.

"Yes, my brothers and I just moved here." He inched a little bit closer and gave me a wide smile. I let out a breath and nervously racked my brain for something to say, but nothing came to mind except word vomit.

"Well, I hope you like Forks High," I said weakly.

"I think I will," he responded after a momentary pause. The next second his brothers came out of the cafeteria and waved to him. "See you Bella," he called, turning his back to me. I gave him a slight wave.

I hope you like Forks High, I groaned inwardly. Could I be any lamer? God! I could feel the blush creeping back over my cheeks. But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't blame myself completely, his face was so distracting! He must think I'm such a loser. I was surprised that this made me upset. I usually didn't care what people thought about me. For the rest of the day, I tried not to think about my run in with Edward and concentrate, but it was impossible. Unsurprisingly, Alice was all too ready to distract me.

"Get in the car Bella! We've got notes to read!" she shouted, hanging out of the window. I slid in next to her and the next second we were off, headed to my house. The moment I shut the door and walked into the living room, Alice flopped on the rug and spilled a massive amount of letters out of her purse. She instantly started going through them and sorting them into three piles. Hers, Mine, and Rosalie's.

After Alice was done sorting, she immediately starting tearing through them at top speed, putting them into another three piles. Definitely not, Maybe, and Yes. As far as I could tell, the definitely not pile was the only one with any notes in them,

"Yuck!" cried out Rosalie, "Listen to this."

Dear Irresistible Blonde,

I couldn't help but notice that your personal ad said that you hated being unsatisfied. Write me back and I will tell you all the different ways that I could satisfy someone like you. My name will give you a hint. ;)

Dynamo Swordsizzle, Box #12

I laughed loudly as she crumpled up the note and tossed it across the room. I looked down at my pile of letters that Alice had shoved over to me. It seemed I had about seven. I took a deep breath, What the hell. I picked up the one that was closest to me and started to read.

Dear Blushing Beauty,

I like music also, I'm actually in a band.

Hm, not so bad I thought.

Were called the Submissive Sacrificers, and we like to imitate Ozzy Osbourne and bite the heads off live animals on stage-

"Eek!" I squealed, dropping the note instantly. I didn't read on, that was probably the most disturbing thing I had ever read in my entire life. Without even reading it, Alice picked it up and threw it into the definitely not pile that was slowing growing higher and higher. I reached for the second one with much more caution.

The second guy started off describing himself as a math nut, and proceeded to explain about his recent math related achievements. "I don't think so," I muttered, tossing it aside. I hated math.

I opened the third note.

Dear Blushing Beauty,

Listen to me for a second while I explain who the perfect guy for you is. "A friend." Someone you see everyday but haven't really given him a chance to prove his feelings. He's definitely good looking enough for you, definitely popular enough for you, and he is wondering why you're being so unreasonably stubborn. Write me back so we can discuss me, the boy of your dreams.

'Hometown n' Handsome,' Box #49

"Oh for god sake!" I mumbled, crumpling up that note as well. "You're right Alice, Mike Newton did write me." Rosalie smirked and grabbed the note from my hands. She unwrinkled it and burst out laughing as she read it out loud to herself.

Alice stuck out her tongue in revulsion and tossed the note into the definitely not pile. I warily reached for my fourth response. As I opened it up, I could barely read it because there was something smeared across the page.

"Ew is that lunch?" I cried, holding it away from me at arms length. "That is so gross! What is wrong with everyone in this school, isn't there anyone normal! Here Alice take this, before I get sick." Alice took the note from me with two fingers and ran it over to the trash can, slamming the lid.

I looked back at my three remaining notes, trying to decide if I even wanted to open them. I looked up and saw that Rosalie had walked over to the windowsill, and she was clutching a note in her hands. I decided I would ask her what she was doing once I finished opening my last three letters.

I grabbed my fifth note, this one was typed.

Blushing Beauty, be my queen

Will it bother you if I'm only fourteen?

Oh great, a freshman, I thought. No way.

The sixth note was so messy I could hardly read the handwriting, and my last one was from Dynamo Swordsizzle telling me all the different ways that he could make me blush.

"Well," I huffed, throwing away the last of my notes. "That was completely pointless, huh?" I turned to my friends, but Rosalie was still at the window, while Alice was beaming up at the ceiling, holding a note to her chest.

"Guys?" I said nervously, sitting up on my knees. "What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing's wrong Bella," said Alice softly, shaking her head in slow motion. "Everything's….great."

"What's so great?" I asked, getting annoyed. They were acting like they couldn't even hear me. When they didn't answer, I said it a bit louder. "Did you guys get a note you liked or something?" That woke them up, well at least Alice.

"Bella! He's perfect!" she squealed sitting up, clutching the note to her chest. "I've got go write him back right away!"

I looked at her in utter shock. "What? What's his name?" I stuttered.

"Sensitive Soul," she whispered intensely, falling backwards onto the couch with her eyes closed. "He's deep." She added those last words so quietly, that I wasn't even sure if I was meant to hear them. I turned to Rosalie who had a big grin on her face.

"You too?" I asked, taking in her expression.

She nodded and read her note over again. "Built for You," she mumbled quietly. "That's his name."

I didn't really know what to say. All my notes had been absolutely ridiculous, how could they be so convinced they had found someone perfect, they looked completely awestruck.

Before I could open my mouth to speak again, Alice sprang up from the couch.

"Rose, you have to take me home now. I need to write him back, and it's going to take all my concentration!" Rose nodded her head fervently, and before I could ask them any more questions, they flew out the front door, with little more than a hasty goodbye and a promise they would call me later.

I spent the next fifteen minutes picking up all the forgotten notes and throwing them away. If I were to be honest, I was a little disappointed in the outcome of the afternoon. My friends had completely left me, for some unknown perfect guys that had them falling in love over one note. I wonder what that must be like. I put all seven of my responses where they belonged, in the trash.

I spent the rest of that night doing my homework, and I ended up going to bed pretty early. I didn't really have much to do, and the whole personal ad things bothered me more than I thought it would. Also, I kept waking up recently, and it was starting to get on my nerves. The next morning as I was grabbing an apple in the kitchen, I heard the horn beeping frantically outside.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I muttered walking to the door. When I got into the car, I couldn't help but notice that Alice and Rosalie were extremely overdressed for school.

"What are you guys wearing?" I balked at them, trying to figure out their reasoning.

"We have to look good," replied Rosalie, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Those guys are walking around somewhere, who knows when we see them each day, we have to be prepared."

They chatted excitedly about 'Sensitive Soul', and 'Built For You' the entire way to school. I was a little more than happy when we pulled in and I could get out. I was sad to say I felt a little left out. Alice of course, noticed.

"Bella, why don't you go check your box," she suggested. "Today's a new day, and I've got a good feeling." She hugged me tightly, and skipped off toward the mini gym to deliver her first note back to her guys.

I was going back and forth during first period, trying to decide if I cared enough to go see if I had any new responses. After looking around the room and taking in all the happy faces, I decided I might as well go give it one last shot. Once the bell rang, I snuck off toward the mini gym, and headed to Box #23. As I approached it, it looked empty, and my heart sunk. But once I moved closer to get a better look, I saw a folded piece of blue paper. I snatched it out of the box, and ran into the nearest bathroom to lock myself in a stall. I tried to tell myself to not get my hopes up.

I slowly unfolded the letter.

Dearest Blushing Beauty,

I'm sorry I didn't write to you yesterday, you have to know that I wanted to, but I needed to work up my courage. I'm not really the type to write these types of things, but for you, I had to make an exception. I hope you are having a wonderful morning, and I was wondering if you would tell me more about yourself. I saw that you like reading and music? Those are two of my interests as well, especially playing the piano. What types of books do you like to read? What is your favorite type of music? Please tell me about yourself blushing beauty, for I am truly interested.

Sincerely yours,

Gentlemen, Box #99

I read the letter over about eight more times, and I couldn't help the involuntarily smile that took over my face.

So, tell me what you think!