Revision 1.0

Thanks for all the reviews, alerts, and just support in general. You guys rock. AN at the end if you're interested in reading.

Don't own Twilight. I do not wish to be sued. Thanks, but no thanks.

Chapter Six - Becoming a Popular

I drove while cringing at the shitty pop song Alice declared would be the song of the year. My decision to invite her over to ny house was starting to look incredibly stupid. I had no idea why I thought she could offer me relationship advise when all she seemed to care about was herself. Oh yeah, cause I was missing my best friend and I needed a replacement.

Alice was talking a mile a minute, sprouting some bullshit about who she thought Forks' next power couple would be. I ignored her, humming a tune in my head. That is, until she mentioned Jasper's name. My foot slammed down on the brake, and Alice stuck her hand onto the dashboard to stop herself from flinging forward.

"I didn't know you were so fond of break checks," Alice said coldly.

I rolled my eyes before continuing to drive. Just a couple more blocks before I got to breathe in fresh, perfume-free air. Alice was one of those girls that just swam in perfume. It was extremely nauseating.

"Jasper Whitlock, huh?" she randomly commented.

"Why exactly are you being nice to me?" I replied, throwing a question back at her because ain't no way in hell that we were going to bond over my infatuation with Jasper Whitlock.

Might as well cut the crap, right? There had to be a reason why she wanted to be my friend. There was no way Alice wanted to be all buddy-buddy for no reason. She sighed, but turned down the radio. I should've asked her that question a long time ago. Probably would've saved me from listening to crappy music.

"I realized how mean I was to you and I just- I just want to make things better. We can't keep hating each other."

You can't, but I can.

I said nothing in response and pulled into my driveway, parking the car without acknowledging Alice's comment. My bag was quickly on my shoulder and after yanking my keys out the transmission, I twirled my key ring around my finger. I looked over to the passenger side, but Alice was already under the safety my porch. I didn't even hear her open the truck door, which is pretty impossible due to the amount of rust and creaky bolts.

Slowly walking over to my porch, I started to compare Alice with Rosalie, unwillingly I may add. Alice didn't complain about my speed, or lack of speed. Alice didn't nag about her freezing ass. Alice wasn't teasing me about being the least energetic person on earth.

It was those little things Alice didn't do that I missed. I missed Rosalie and I was trying to put Alice in the void that Rosalie vacated.

"Are you okay?" Alice chirped, breaking through my depressive thoughts.

I responded with a silent 'yeah, whatever' then unlocked the front door. She arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. She pranced into my house, elegantly fluttering all around my living room. Stupid ballerina.

"Want something to drink?" I mumbled, silently hoping she didn't hear me.

She did catch my question and told me she'd have a Shirley Temple. A Shirley fucking Temple. What the fuck did I look like? A ten-year old child living in the nineteen-freaking-thirties? Ugh, no fucking way.

I turned to the midget sitting on my sofa, trying my best to not snort at her juvenile choice of beverage. I failed. My shoulders shook with laughter and my guffaws filled the room. I clutched at my stomach, doubling over as the hysterics came over me. I wasn't sure how much time I spent laughing, but it was a very, very long time.

"What the fuck?" I managed to say in between laughs. I thought about telling Rosalie about Alice's drink request, thinking it would be a good story to share. That thought quickly killed my laughter and I walked into the kitchen, Alice closely following me.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Make fun of my kid-ish drink. Shirley Temple's are delish, yes?" Alice told me.

"No," I spat, my back to her and my hands tightly holding onto the counter. I wanted to break something. I guess the depression was gone and now the anger. I was way too moody.

Alice's soft sigh filled my ears and it took every ounce of control to not lash out at her. This bitch. Thinking she can bitch and moan in my house. I don't think so.

"Nice fridge." Her random comment brought me back to reality and I shook my head clear.

Silently muttering my thanks, I walked over to said fridge and pulled out two Lipton whatever. She liked this shit, right? It was low in calories so it wouldn't cancel out the one cracker she nibbles on every day. Well, besides Temple's, I didn't know her beverage preferences, so she was going to have to settle for tea. Boo hoo for her.

I handed her the drink, watching as a wry smile formed on her lips. She twisted off the cap and drank the tea without complaint. Yeah, you better drink that.

"So, after all these years of teaming up with Ed-fag-o you finally wanna throw up the white flag. Why now?" My fingers played with the bottle as I waited for her response.

All of my questions were going to be answered today, whether she liked it or not. She wasn't going to tiptoe around my words and try to downplay any question. No, I wanted my goddamn answers.

There was another sigh that came out of Alice's mouth and this time I sighed along with her. I wasn't enjoying this either. I moved to lean on the counter of the island, snickering as Alice had to jump up to sit on the island stool. Her below average height made me laugh.

"I know Edward," she looked pointedly at me when she said that dick's name, "and me haven't exactly been your biggest support team. I'm sorry for that. I really am, but the only reason why I was so mean was because you were always so fucking sarcastic and arrogant."

My mouth went slack at her words. At first it sounded like she was apologizing, but toward the end there she actually placed the blame on me. What the fuck? That was the biggest conundrum I have ever heard. She's sorry, but if I was nicer, she would have been less of a shit-face? I was pissed that she wasn't owning up to her shit.

What I wanted to hear was, "Oh, Bella. I'm sorry for being a miserable bitch. I came out of my mom's vaj like that. I promise I won't be such a cunt." Hell, I would've taken a "you're right, I'm wrong". Instead I got her self-righteous act.

I glared at Alice and slammed my bottle onto the counter. Her composure was calm and collected. She wasn't affected by my sudden rage and it was just fueling my anger.

"Excuse me!" I sneered, trying my hardest to not raise my voice and slap her. "It's not my fault that you think you're God's gift to the world. And it is definitely not my fault that your apologies suck ass."

She suddenly snapped and screeched back at me, "Well, I'm sorry you can't stop being so damn critical. I'm sorry that you can't fucking accept apologies."

I scoffed, crossing my arms and looking away from her. "Oh yeah, you sound so sorry."

Alice huffed. "See! There you go again, being all sarcastic and thinking you're so damn smart. I'm trying here. Maybe if you'd be a little open this would be easier."

"I'm not the one leaving cryptic little comments and notes that basically say 'Haha you're a joke. Go fucking die'!" I yelled, the windows shaking at my little fit of rage.

My chest heaved and I sneered at Alice. Her confused expression momentarily made me forget about what I was saying, but once she donned a pissed off look, my fury returned. Yeah, I knew she wrote the letter.

"What fucking note? I never wrote you a note!" I eyed her skeptically, my gut instinct battling it out with my brain. She was Suspect Numero Uno; all that hate and fucked up jokes pointed in her direction. I mean, who else would write that note? But that look in her eyes. She looked confused and fuck I couldn't come up with anything.

She didn't write it.

If she didn't write it, then who did?

Silence surrounded us for a couple minutes. With my lips pursed, I asked her if she really didn't know about the note. When she heatedly denied having any knowledge to my note I finally calmed down.

"You said…you're jealous of me. Why?" I whispered, the curiosity getting the best of me.

This made her take a double take. She shook her head, most likely a war going on in her head. Alice looked up at me, hesitation prominent in her eyes. I wanted my answers. I didn't care if she didn't want to tell me. She was going to tell me everything whether she liked it or not.

"I-I wish I could be like you. You have an easy life. You don't have controlling parents. I don't even get to choose what I eat. I'm not - I can't do things for myself. My parents never tell me they love me. I can't even remember the last time they smiled at me. I mean, everything I do makes me a disgrace in their eyes. They expect so much from me and I-I don't know how to please them anymore."

She took a shuddering breath and went on with her explanation.

"You're everything I want to be. You still have a voice. You have everything I want. Family members that don't kick you when you're down, friends that actually care. I want that." Longing and envy were clear in her voice and I felt like shit.

This girl gave me hell because she never had anything a kid needs in life. Love. Little did she know, I was like her in a way. One of my parents constantly tried to mold me into the image of a perfect daughter. I wasn't good enough either. I had to make her see there was no point in envying me. I was as unwanted as her.

I bit my lip and looked away from her, staring at a spot on the wall. She said I had friends that cared. Yeah, right. My best friend ignored me for days on end and when she finally did show up, I snapped and yelled at her. We're not talking anymore and her boyfriend, my best dude friend, is avoiding me, too. I was a loner again, back to those dark middle school years.

Did she want to be a loner like me?

"You're wrong, you know." My eyes were still focused on the white wall, but I knew she was looking at me.

"What?" she asked incuriously.

I glanced back at her, offering a small smile. I couldn't hate her. Not when she felt so worthless. I wasn't one to kick those already groveling.

"I don't have everything. My friends aren't exactly there for me anymore. My mom is constantly trying to dress me up in frilly clothes and ignores me whenever I fail to be her ideal daughter. People poke fun at me just because I gained like five pounds. Gosh, I'm the running joke at school."

Alice suddenly beamed at me, grasping my hands in hers. I was shocked at her sudden movement and didn't try to take my hands away from her much smaller ones. Her fingers were so tiny; they looked like little kid hands. She began to tell me how her life really was, the real Alice underneath the horrible mask she always switched on for show. If I thought having one disapproving parent was horrible, having two would have destroyed me; it did to Alice.

Her whole life she was looked down upon by the two people she needed the most. Instead of getting congratulated her parents would tell her she was not worthy of their praise. The feeling of worthlessness was the only thing she ever felt when she was home. She was beaten countless times, the perfect daughter image constantly being imprinted into her brain. She had to be perfect.

She didn't want my sympathy, but I felt so bad for her. The things Alice's parents did to her were horrendous. If she didn't do something right she'd be tormented and isolated for days in a dark, windowless room. That explained why she would miss so many school days and come back with a broken spirit and even worse attitude towards life in general. Why would her parents do that shit to her? And why didn't she report them? I wanted to, but I couldn't once I looked into her emotionless eyes and promised her I wouldn't say anything.

We were quiet for a while, me staring at her while she bit her lip.

"I've been a monster to you, Bella. I know it's not fair of me to ask, but can we start over? Can we do that?" Alice asked expectantly, her eyes pleading with mine.

My bottom lip went straight in between my teeth as I pondered what she asked of me. Did she really want to be friends? Why now?

I wasn't even sure if we could put our differences aside. She was such a bitch to me throughout all these years that I was extremely wary of even trusting her. I couldn't imagine being friends with her. But, she was popular and if I was popular I wouldn't get mean notes taped to my truck. I'd get Jasper Whitlock. Isn't that what I always wanted? There were so many advantages to being popular, but with great power comes great responsibility. Okay, no, wrong movie quote. I was only looking at the rewards of being Alice's friend, not the drawbacks. Wasn't this wrong? I was planning on using her friendship to move up the social ladder.

Maybe that was why I smiled at Alice, and walked around the island to wrap her in a hug. I nodded my head and agreed to start fresh. I agreed to forget everything, including Rosalie ever being my friend. I agreed to becoming a Popular.

So I said I was going to update last week. I was, but then my appendix ruptured on Monday. It just boom, exploded. So I barely found time to get off my ass and upload the chapter I promised. On a lighter note, who watched the Super Bowl? I am so proud to call myself a Giants fan. I swear I wanted to jump up and down at the end, but since I'm all stapled up that wouldn't have been so smart. So yeah, go Giants!

What did you think? Anybody feel bad for Alice? Teasers for reviewers. Jasper appearance up next ;)

~geek