A/N – Thank you to Chocoholicbabe, allisonbcullen, twilighterlostnNCIS, and Rainie16. Your reviews really made my day! Sadly, I didn't reply to your reviews because I didn't know how to until yesterday.

Thank you to my wonderful Beta, !

Enjoy!

Bella's Point of View

Unlike yesterday morning, I did not wake up to the alarm clock. Instead, I woke up to Edwards freezing cold arms surrounding me.

"Good morning, love," Edward said when he saw that I was awake.

"Good morning," I yawned. "Are you ready for your Act today?"

"Yes, Bella, about that," he said, shifting his body so he could look me full in the eyes. I totally understand why you did it, but I would still appreciate it if you would not sabotage my Act."

I was surprised. No, I was stunned. "How did you know?" I finally managed to stutter.

"When Alice told me those dogs were planning a visit, I kept an ear out for their thoughts in case they tried to talk to you." I grimaced.

"And one of them was thinking about the plan?" I guessed.

"Right," he confirmed. "Now I would really appreciate it if you let me do my act without interference."

"Okay," I murmured, and he bent down to kiss me.

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As we drove into the school's parking lot, Edward leaned over and kissed me again. I expected him to break off after a few seconds, but he just deepened the kiss. I could feel myself start to hyperventilate and the blood pound through my veins. Just when I was beginning to get dizzy from the lack of oxygen, Edward broke it off.

"Let's not give you a heart attack, shall we?" Edward grinned, and my stomach started doing summersaults.

Edward's Point of View

"What brought that one?" Bella gasped. I took the liberty of looking at the boy whose thought had caught my attention before answering her.

"I didn't want that new kid, Alex Chatterson, getting any bright ideas." Understanding flashed across her face as she glanced at the skinny boy who was leaning against the side of the school.

"He is in my physics class and he is the new captain of the chess team," she shrugged. "He is a nice kid," she added slyly. "But I like them cold."

I smiled and took her hand as we walked toward the school.

Mike's Point of View

I watched Bella and that Cullen kid making out in his car with a growing sense of resentment. It was not fair that she chose that freak and left me on the sidelines. I dunno, sometimes when I look at him I get the same feeling I get when I watch criminal trials. And I haven't just been watching too many mafia movies either.

After Bella entered the building, I noticed that new kid, Alex Somebody, walk in after them. Who knew he could be so good at basketball anyway. I mean, he only got here this year and already he's been selected to be the team captain. This was not going to be one of my better days, that's for sure.

I had just turned the car off when suddenly I remembered that I had left my English essay at home. And since it had been due yesterday, there was no avoiding the fact that I had to go home and get it. I quickly turned the key in the ignition, only to listen to my engine sputter and die.

"Crap," I muttered. Since English was right after lunch, there would be absolutely no time for me to get it to a mechanics and back. Oh well, maybe Eric or Tyler would lend me one of their cars. I sure hoped so because if not, I would be a dead man by fourth period.

Edward's Point of View

I am generally very good at tuning human thoughts out, but when someone in a close proximity to you starts swearing at the top of their mental lungs; it gets a bit more difficult. Right now, that annoying Newton kid was trying to convince a very reluctant Eric to relinquish his keys. Needless to say, he was not getting very far.

"Edward?" Bella said, turning to face me. "What are you doing for your Act anyway?" Uh, yeah. See, Bella, I haven't got a clue because I would much rather spend all my time with you than help some random person. Or at least, that is what I would have said if I had wanted to have Bella lecture me on my social conscience and how we all have to do our part to make the world a better place. But since I did not want that, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"I am helping Mike fix his car."

Whoa. Where did that come from? I was almost as shocked at what came out of my mouth then Bella appeared to be. For a few seconds she just stared at me, and then her face erupted in a brilliant grin.

"Really?" she asked. I was so stunned at her abrupt change in mood that I could only nod mutely. "Well I love that you are making an effort to be nicer to him," she continued happily. "It is really nice that you are willing to do this just to make me happy." Honestly, I was beginning to think that if doing that was enough to make her this happy; I would have to take Mike's car apart more often so I could help him fix it. I glanced over at Mike quickly. If he needed that car before the lunch break, I would have to get a jump on officially asking him if he wanted my assistance.

Mike's Point of View

I tried to be calm while talking to Zach, but inside I was panicking. Every single one of my friends had either walked or was low on gas. I was too distracted to be hearing much of what Zach was saying, but I did notice when he stopped.

"What, Zach?" I questioned, turning around to see what his eyes were going all buggy at. What I saw shocked and stunned me more than walking in on my ex and Max McStravick in one of the English classrooms. Walking confidently towards us was the one and only Edward Cullen. He smirked at me and I quickly made an effort to get my jaw off the floor.

"Hello Zach, Mike," he said, nodding at each of us in turn. Neither of us answered him. We were still standing there like a couple of idiots who can't find anything to say. As much as I would have loved it, our staring did not seem to faze him one bit. "Mike," he said turning to me, and my jaw lost its little battle with gravity. "I heard you were having car trouble and I was wondering if you would like me to have a look at it. I do know a thing or two about them."

This was it. The world was officially about to end. First car-nerd-king, Tyler walks to school, then Edward F******G Cullen offers his help! It was a very good thing I went to confessional last Sunday.

"Uhhm, sure," I said, hoping I hadn't already made too big of an idiot out of myself. "When do you want to look at it?

"We could do it at lunch," he offered, and then added in response to my blank stare. "I heard a rumour that you needed it to get back to your house for something."

"Um, okay," I said quietly. It was already too late to avoid looking like an idiot, so I was just going for grateful now. He grinned at me and left to go wrap is arm around an enthusiastic Bella. And for once, I was too preoccupied to care. What on earth was that?

Edward's Point of View

As always, I walked Bella to her locker before lunch. But instead of taking her hand and leading her away to the cafeteria, I paused.

"What is it?" Bella asked, frowning. Her face suddenly cleared. "Oh, you have to go help Mike with his car." Her face shone and yet again, I wondered how happy I had really made her by agreeing to do this.

But it still hurt to see her go without me.

She smiled as if she knew what I was thinking, and squeezed my hand before letting it go. "I'll be fine," she said. "Although Alice will likely want to spend the whole lunch hour searching for clues at the scene of the crime." She winced, and I felt a rush of sympathy for her. She felt so guilty that she had to do that to her sister. Mentally, I vowed to find some way to distract Alice before she found out it was Bella.

I sighed inwardly as I watched her go. This was going to be a very long hour.

Alex's Point of View

In the one week since I had arrived at this school, I had met many new people; but no one's face has stuck in my mind like that of Isabella Swan. The absolute high point of my first week was Bella introducing herself. I will always remember the way her silky, hazelnut hair framed her petite face and how her beautiful brown eyes shone when she leapt to her feet after the bell rang. I spent the rest of that day gathering information about her. From my fellow classmates, I learned that she moced to Forks a year and a half ago. I knew that her boyfriend, Edward Cullen, left her after nearly four months of dating. Then, after leaving her heartbroken for another six months, he returned almost as suddenly as he had left.

After Mike had finished telling me that story, he told me, "Bella has never shown any interest in any guy other than Cullen. Don't even bother."

But how could I not? I mean, sure some girls might consider that Cullen kid hot, but he is kinda creepy. The way I figured it, it was just a little crush that would go away as soon as she found out what she was missing. All I needed was one chance.

Since that day, I had been trying to come up with a suitable way to spend some time with Bella Swan, and now I had it.

As I watched her walk towards me, I reflected on what I was about to ask her, As she waked past me, I steeled myself, and reached out to tap her shoulder.

Bella's Point of View

I was so wrapped up in my glum thoughts that didn't notice someone approaching me until that someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around and abruptly slipped on the wet floor. My world spun wildly for an instant before I felt a warm hand grab my elbow. After I had regained my balance, I looked up at the someone who had startled me, and instantly blushed as I realized that I recognized that face.

It was Alex, that boy from my Physics class whom Edward seemed to dislike.

"Hey, Bella," he greeted. "Umm, does this happen often?" I just had to laugh at his bemused expression.

"Yeah, it does," I said smiling at him. And just like that, the tension was broken.

"So what's up?" I asked him.

"Well," he said, looking distinctly uncomfortable again. I wanted to ask you a favour. I need someone to practice with for the team and I was wondering if you would help me."

I was about to refuse him when a sudden thought struck me. Helping him would be an act of kindness. And that stopped me cold because no matter what I tried to pretend around Edward and Alice, I really had no idea what my Act was going to be. It is true that I still had two days to figure it out, but if I wanted mine to be halfway decent, I needed to figure something out.

I looked at Alex's hopeful face. Edward was going to hate this, and of course so was I, but it was the only thing I could think of. Besides, I wasn't half bad at chess.

"Okay," I said.

Alice's Point of View

I cannot believe she would do this to me. I know Bella does not like out 'Bella Barbie' sessions, but she is still my best friend and my sister-to-be. The least she could have done was play along. And the worst part was, I couldn't do anything or say anything to her without Edward getting his knickers in a twist over it. Scratch that, the worst part was that everyone else will side with Edward because Bella is the fragile human.

Suddenly, a vision came to me. As I watched, the most wonderful feeling of elation spread through me. Bella would not be hurt, and I would still have my revenge, or at least as much revenge as possible. All I would have to do was nothing.

Mike's Point of View

Well, that was something else. Not only is Cullen a genius and a ladies man, but apparently, he is also a mechanic. Who woulda thought. Anyway, It only took him half an hour to find the problem and fix it, and while he was doing it, he kept up a steady stream of conversation. I am not sure what is up with Cullen, but if this is going to be a regular thing, then I will definitely have to come up with better responses than "Uh, huh," and "Mhm." He must think I am mentally retarded or something.

I really hope that he isn't just being nice to me to win points with Bella, though. Because that would be totally embarrassing.

Edward's Point of View

Following the plan, I met Mike out by his car directly after I left Bella in the hall. He was waiting for me by his car, his hood already popped. Without even looking at Mike, I reached into the engine and pulled out a little piece of paper stuck next to the pistons. On it were instructions for fixing the car. I had cornered Rosalie earlier and cashed in a few you-owe-me's to get her to do this. Apparently there was something wrong with the exhaust pipe, but Rosalie didn't think it would be too difficult to fix.

For the first time since I arrived, I looked at Mike. He looked scared to death. I sighed. Bella may compare Mike to a golden retriever, but I do not think she would be very happy if I just fixed his car while showing my true, nasty feelings toward him. With a sigh, I turned to him.

"I think the problem might be that your exhaust pipe is blocked," I said, being very careful to keep my face neutral. "Luckily, it is a fairly simple problem to fix." He just stared at me. Oh well, If I was going to do this, I may as well do it properly.

And I started to talk.

After awhile, I noticed Mike start to relax. He even worked up the nerve to comment on a few of the things I was saying to him.

I hate that kid. I hate the way he thinks about Bella, as if she is a toy that can be played with and used up at his leisure. I hate the way he thinks he is more superior to everyone else because he has had more dates. But above all, I hate that I have to be friendly and polite to him for Bella's sake when all I want to do is tear his throat out.

It was because of that thought that I fixed the car – perhaps a little quicker than was sensible. And from Mike's thoughts, he noticed. But I didn't care. Listening to that idiot think about her just made me need to see her all the more.

But I loved her, so I smiled and wished him luck as he drove away. Then I went to find Bella.

Alice's Point of View

I had spent the whole half-hour Edward was away talking to Bella about what I would do to the person who wreaked my Act. Bella tried to hide her unease, but every time I mentioned a new punishment, her face went just a little paler and her breathing hitched just a little. Two minutes before Edward was due to walk into the cafeteria, I started blocking my thoughts by reciting The Constitution in Portuguese. I knew over six thousand languages, which would keep my mind occupied for at least two hours. Just long enough for me to get away from him. Of course Edward would be annoyed that I was blocking him, but he wouldn't think too much of it.

Beside me, Bella was fiddling with her muffin. It suddenly struck me that I hadn't seen her take one bite yet. I felt a little twinge of guilt. Even if she did sabotage my Act, she still didn't deserve to starve. Besides, Edward would get very angry if I didn't get her eating.

"Bella, please eat your muffin," I said hastily. She just looked at mu suspiciously.

"Why?"

"Because Edward will walk through those doors in about two minutes and he will be upset with me if you haven't been eating." Bella's face brightened at the mention of my favourite brother and she quickly broke off a piece of muffin and popped it in her mouth. I felt another twinge of regret as I realized she didn't argue with me because she still didn't want to get me in trouble. She was still my sister and I was being horrible to her.

Just then, Edward walked through the cafeteria door.

Edward's Point of View

I did my best to walk calmly although everything in me wanted to run to my Bella and hold her forever. When I saw her sitting there next to Alice I rushed over and pecked her on the lips. I wasn't until I sat down that I noticed that Alice was reciting the constitution in Portuguese. And what was more, she wouldn't look me in the face. When I tried to catch her eye, she pretended fascination with the clock hanging on the wall.

"How did it go Edward?" Bella asked, and I shrugged. No need to go into details about how much I really wanted to hurt Mike. Thankfully, Bella was too distracted to insist on details.

"Guess what, Edward," she said. "I know what I am going to do for my Act on Thursday."

"I thought you already had your Act," Alice interrupted. Bella wisely chose to ignore her.

"I am going to help Alex practice for the upcoming chess tournament." What!!??!! My mind screamed, but my face remained carefully impassive. Bella's face grew confused as she gauged my lack of response. She was probably expecting me to blow up or something like that. But Bella doesn't need to know that I want to tear Alex apart for cornering her into this. I didn't want her to see the monster in me. Besides, it was one afternoon and I would be with her.

"Wow," she said. "Where did you get so much tolerance?"

"I trust you, love," I said simply. As I said those words, her face just exploded in pure joy, and for an instant, I was happy also. But just as I was just getting ready to say something else, Alice slipped up.

The thought I got was no more than a still picture, a photograph of what was to come, but in it was so much confusion and information that for a moment, I was stunned. The picture showed Bella and Alex in the school gym. Alex was holding a basketball and Bella was dribbling another one. Bella was laughing in the picture. I was nowhere to be seen. What was going on?

A/N – To all the people who review to this chapter, I will send you a special outtake (thank you to VivaViva for this idea ). And not only is it an outtake, it also gives some hints as to what happens in chapters to come!

Cheers

~MJ