Okay so, yada yada, I forgot to do the disclaimer last time, damn, yada yada, here's the chappy!

Disclaimer: I own neither Twilight nor its characters.

Bella P.O.V.

"Welcome home, Bella! Did you have fun?"

I looked at my grandma and shuddered, hoping that would suffice as an answer. I wasn't sure I could come up with a better way to articulate my displeasure.

She raised her eyebrows at me. "Is that a no?"

"What do you think?" I griped, beginning the climb up the stairs.

"Your grandmother was just asking a question, Isabella!" Grandpa called after me, finally back at the house.

"Well, excuse me, Peter! I didn't know that I had to be little miss happy every second of my life!" I shouted, and my grandmother stared at me with wide eyes as I breathed heavily, just waiting for another excuse to start chewing Grandpa's ear off. My fists were sweaty, and I was nearly shaking with anxiety.

Grandpa poked his head around the corner and watched me with a raised eyebrow. "Did something happen with the Cullens?"

I gritted my teeth together so hard they could have chipped. "Of course something happened. Why would I act like this otherwise?"

Grandpa looked like he wanted to say something, but he smartly held his tongue. I think he realized that I was seriously upset, and for once I was grateful for his sharp intuition.

I turned on my heel and shot up the stairs, taking them two at a time, tripping and banging my shin against several steps before finally managing to reach the top. I ran to the guest room and had to restrain every bone in my body to keep me from slamming it shut.

I sighed as soon as I was inside, sinking down to the floor. I looked up at the blank ceiling, thinking about Alice's insistent that we have a slumber party or something. I had declined and ran to my grandparents' house, desperate to get away from the Cullens.

Oh God, the Cullens.

Edward.

Kiss.

Fuck.

Gaaaaah.

I hit my head against the door, shutting my eyes tightly. I saw his face in my mind, though, and quickly opened them again, sighing.

At the time, I'd been a little excited. I mean, I was getting kissed by a really cute guy. But then, he was Edward Cullen, Cocky Bastard, and the reality came crashing down on me as soon as he pulled away. It was ridiculous. And he wouldn't even tell me his reasons. He and Emmett had gone into the bathroom together - okay, don't even want to think about that - and I listened to their murmurs until I finally couldn't stand it.

I pulled at my hair, letting out a low cry from my throat. His responses were still fresh in my head, and they were pissing me off worse the more I thought about them. His easygoing nonchalance about it all... I bet he kissed any girl he could get within an eight-inch radius of.

All of his expressions and movements kept aggravating me further as I recalled more, and soon I was screaming inside my head: Stupid Cullen, with your hair, your eyes, your stupid face, damn freaking bronze hair, and those long legs, lean build, soft lips...

"God dammit!" I yelled, kicking the leg of the bed. It hurt like hell, but it was a slight distraction from the curse that had been cast on me.

There was a light knock on the door. "Bella, are you alright?"

Grandma. I sighed at the concern in her voice and replied, "Yeah. I'm just tired. I think I'm going to bed early."

"It's only three in the afternoon, dear."

"I know."

She was silent for a minute before telling me to sleep well, and then I heard the light footfalls as she walked away. I sighed again - I felt like I was doing that a lot lately - and crawled over to the bed, climbing under with all of my clothes on. I was too exhausted to undress, or even turn off the light. I closed my eyes and somehow managed to drift off to sleep, even with the sun still streaming gently through the curtains.

----------

I woke with a start, feeling a disturbing movement from my pocket. In my groggy state, I somehow figured out that it was my cell, vibrating. I brought it to my face and flipped it open, seeing that I was getting a phone call.

"Hello?" I mumbled.

"Bells? Did I wake you up?"

Suddenly I bolted upright, recognizing the one voice I had probably needed to hear for a while. I smiled, something he could always get out of me, and I said, "Jasper."

"Hey, how're you doing in purgatory?"

I groaned, falling back onto the bed. The back of my head whacked the headboard, though, and I spat out muffled curses that even I couldn't understand.

"Okay.Sounds fun so far," he commented in that lazy drawl he had. I could almost see his lanky form sprawled out on his camouflage bean bag chair, drinking his always-present Mountain Dew and watching cartoons. He was so childish, and that was one of the things that drew him to me the most. He brought out a side of me I'd never known existed before we'd met.

"Yeah, it's just lovely. My grandfather thinks I'm some kind of spoiled brat, my grandma is so nice that it hurts my feelings on a daily basis, and the fucking neighbors are-!" I couldn't even finish my sentence. Thinking of Edward so shortly after waking up was making my blood boil.

Jasper clacked his tongue. "Ooh, I know that tone. There's a guy, isn't there?"

It amazed me how perceptive he was. "Well... maybe..."

He laughed. "I knew it! And he's, what, some kind of asshole? A total cocky bastard?"

"Exactly!" I nearly shouted.

"And you still like him, though, right?"

I froze, my mouth gaping open in horror. I was so speechless, yet Jazz didn't seem to notice. He kept on talking, saying how I was always a sucker for the bad boy. I swallowed the bile down that had risen to my throat and gritted my teeth together. "No, I do not like him. I can't believe you even said that! Just the notion of it is disgusting, Jasper Whitlock!"

"Uh-oh. You used my whole name. Not a good sign. Don't kill me."

I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my hair, wincing when it caught on several knots. "Just... it doesn't matter."

His silence showed that he didn't believe me.

"Seriously, it doesn't. I don't plan on seeing him anytime soon, anyway. Never, if I can manage it."

"I really am sorry, Bells. I wish that... well, forget it. Sorry I called so late. I probably should let you sleep."

"No! No, please don't hang up. I've missed you so much," I nearly pleaded, holding my breath for his response.

"Well... alright. But you'd better cheer up! Tell me something funny!"

And just like that, we were back to normal, joking and laughing about subjects that a normal person would recoil in shock at. When I told him I had actually played a videogame, he nearly choked on his soda. But it was nothing compared to the response I gave when he told me he had tried to hitchhike up to Phoenix.

"What? Why?"

"Because I needed to try and see you. My mom caught me, though. She had checked on me, and wasn't amused by the pillow dummy I'd made. I thought it was pretty clever, too. He had my hair and everything. I just duct taped my mom's mop to a few pillows and shoved him under my blankets. I even gave him a smiley face."

Ignoring my urge to laugh at that last part, I scolded, "You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. I'll stick it out. If you think about it, my dad could have come up with worse than sending me away for a few months. You got off lucky, too, just being grounded for a few weeks."

We sat there in silence, both of us probably thinking back to the night that had turned my summer to hell. I quickly shook my head, banishing the poisonous thoughts from my mind.

"But even if you say that, I still miss you. Tyler tried to help me sneak out earlier, so we could hang out at his place, but his idea of doing that was creating a distraction and leaving a ransom note."

My eyes widened, and before I could ask if they actually went through with it, he continued, "Oh, and yes, he really tried his strategy. He chucked a fucking brick through our living room window with a note attached to it and oh-so-brilliantly yelled, 'Run, Jasper!' My step-dad almost had a heart attack, and my mom says I'll be grounded for life if I don't, 'cut it out with the schenanigans.'"

I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle my laugh, but he heard it anyway. "Oh, shut up. It's not funny."

"Yes it is," I retorted, grinning wildly as I shook with my silent laughter. He sighed on the other end of the phone, but I could almost hear him smiling. I caught my breath and turned on the bedside lamp, looking around the room absentmindedly as I collected some of my thoughts. I recalled how pissed off I had been earlier when Edward had kissed me, and something in my brain finally clicked. I smiled and asked, "Hey, Jazzy, baby, do you know what would make me really happy?"

"What do you want now?"

"It's not anything big."

He was cautiously silent.

"Will you go out with me?"

Okay, I actually heard him spew his soda, then cough violently, and then some strange pounding noises started up, which I guessed was either him trying to breathe again by hitting his chest, or he was banging his head against the wall. I figured the wall sounded like a better explanation. It took a long time for him to speak again, and when he did, I was waiting with pursed lips.

"A-Are you serious?"

I smiled, looking down at my feet, kicking the blanket a little and watching as it slowly fell back down. "Sorta."

"What does that mean?" He asked desperately.

"It means that I need you as an excuse."

He was still frantic, which I would have taken to offense in any normal situation. "B-But why? For that dude you told me about? Bells, don't worry about him, alright? Just ignore him, and he'll go away. He will never matter to you in your life, so you shouldn't waste your youth trying to prove something to him!"

"Okay, I'll listen to your advice, babycakes."

"You did not just call me babycakes."

I grinned. "Oh, but I did. And the nicknames will get much worse, my little blueberry tart."

He groaned. "Bells, what would having a long-distance relationship with me have to do with that guy? And more importantly, why would he care?"

"He'll care, alright. Because you're going tell him that if he comes near me again, you're going to rip him in half and feed him to rabid dogs."

"How am I going to tell him? I've tried sneaking out already!"

"Just try harder!"

He groaned. "Jesus-effin'-Christ, you're making me go prematurely gray! Okay, okay, fine, I'll try, but if I get caught again and my grounding is lengthened, I'm never gonna let you live it down!"

----------

It was three days after my phone call with Jazz that I realized something.

Alice Cullen was stalking me.

It was subtle, like a python slithering through ferns to strike down a baby swallow. I would go outside to sit on the porch and stare at the sky, and she would suddenly appear out of nowhere, inviting herself to join me and nearly causing me to go deaf with all of her nonsensical blabbering. Other times, she would just ring the doorbell fifty million times, and I would have to pretend I was sleeping to keep Grandma from dragging me outside herself.

Eventually, she caught on to my ruse, though I tried to keep up with it anyway. The slight prick of guilt I felt from her was nothing compared to the gaping hole that my grandma seemed to carve deeper and deeper everyday, so she was easy to ignore.

But one morning, I was caught.

I was sitting down to breakfast, eating a simple bowl of cereal rather than the plump waffles Grandma had made. I was going to get fat, the way she kept stuffing me with all sorts of baked goods that I craved but didn't need. My self-control was just starting to reach its limit as I stared at a huge waffle - dripping with butter and syrup - when the doorbell rang.

In my waffle-enamored state, I didn't think to run up to the guest room, and so when Alice bounded in upon invitation from my grandma, I nearly choked on my cereal.

"Hi, Bella!" She chirped, smiling so big it almost took up her whole face. She had finally trapped me, and she was fully aware of it. "Do you want to hang out with me today?"

I scowled, pushing a grain of my cereal around in my bowl, contemplating my options.

"And don't worry, it's just me this time. Edward and Emmett are too busy playing videogames at home to come play with us."

I looked up at her, and couldn't help but feel a glint of appreciation. She had said the exact words that would have made me feel willing to go, and so I shrugged slightly and said, "Okay. I don't have anything else to do, anyway."

She squealed loudly, bouncing up and down, her long hair flowing around her in a whirlwind of black. "Great! Yay, yay, yay! We're going to have so much fun!" She suddenly froze and clapped her hands together. "We can go to the hair salon together! My stylist is the best in the whole galaxy!"

I fingered a strand of my droopy brown hair. "I could use some help," I muttered to myself.

When she winked, it occured to me that her suggestion to go to a salon may havn been due to my hair. I refrained the urge to smack her, and wiped my face with a napkin. "Can you give me a minute to get ready?"

"Of course! Just don't take too long!" And she skipped away, into the living room.

It was hard for me to believe that after all of her stalking, she would have a problem with waiting a few more minutes for me.

After putting my dishes in the sink, I went upstairs and got the usual cell phone and tennis shoes. When I walked back down, Alice was still waiting, nearly vibrating in her seat she was so happy. She ran up to me, and we walked to the front door together, her chatting away about some random topic.

Grandma suddenly appeared at my side and shoved a wad of bills into my hand just as I reached the doorway. Before I could protest, she said, "Take it, Bella. Have fun getting your hair done."

With the look she was giving me, how could I refuse?

"You're going to love Rose," Alice gushed, situating herself in the drivers' side of the car I recognized from the other day. "She is a genius."

"Oh, I'm sure," I muttered, buckling my seat belt and staring out the window.

The ride to the salon wasn't as painful as I had originally expected. Alice talked less because, as she claimed, she wasn't good at multitasking. I took this as a blessing and spent the fifteen or so minutes thinking of styles that would be appropriate for me. I couldn't pull off cutesy stuff, like pigtails and short cuts, but I looked alright with my hair curled. Otherwise, I left it as it naturally was - straight and shoulder-length.

We pulled into a crowded parking lot and Alice luckily found a empty space, though it was a ways from the salon. I got out of the car, and squinted against the sun having to shield my eyes. The salon was apart of a strip mall, like many stores, and was called, Cool Cuts. It looked like any other hair place I'd ever been to, but Alice kept talking about it like it was Mount Olympus or something.

"Come on!" Alice grabbed my arm and towed me forward. I somehow managed to keep up with her despite the fact that her grip continued to cause me to trip over my own feet. When we finally got to the door and she opened it, a loud noise ripped through my ears.

It was Alice, I realized, as she let me go and ran forward to another squealing woman. She was tall, with long, blonde hair that reached her elbows and large, hazel eyes. I had just taken a step back to distance myself from the two squealing women when the amazon caught sight of me and raised one eyebrow.

"Who's the girl?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips and sizing me up with her eyes. I somehow managed not to wriggle under her scrutiny.

Alice came over to me and put an arm around my shoulder, smiling. "This is Bella, my new friend. She's here visiting for the summer." She looked to me and motioned to the hazel-eyed woman. "And Bella, this is my stylist, Rosalie. She's the one I was telling you about."

"You mean the genius?"

Obviously neither of them heard the sarcasm in my voice, since they both nodded in agreement.

Rosalie cocked her head to the side slightly, furrowing her brow at me. "You brought me a challenge this time, Alli."

I gaped, because I assumed she was talking about me.

Before I could make an equally rude remark, she walked over, her black high heels clacking sharply against the tile, and grabbed my arm. "Come on. You need help. Now." She walked so quickly to the salon chairs that I had to speed up my pace to keep up with her. She shoved me down into a chair, swiftly covering me with a tarp. I blinked as she instantly got to work, turning me around and reclining me, so that my head was in a bowl. I shut my eyes as she instructed, pouring a cold, goopy liquid onto my hair. She lathered gently, and I sighed, relaxing into her hands.

I could hear her talking to someone. I knew it wasn't me, because someone else was replying back. I guessed that it was Alice, though it was difficult to say with the rushing water filling my ears.

When Rosalie was done with washing my hair, she smiled down at me and clamped a towel onto my face. "Dab at your hair with that, hon. I'm going to go consult your style with Alli."

I heard her clack away, and then I did as I was instructed, softly running the towel through my smooth hair. I was surprised she had actually untangled it without any unnecessary tugging and ripping. I sat up, wrapping my whole head in the towel, and looked around the salon. Alice and Rosalie were over in the corner, bent over some fashion magazine, talking with completely business-like expressions on their face. Around them, there was a flurry of activity. People walking in, asking for reservations, walking out, kids waiting for their mothers to finish. I hadn't realized that there were so many people inside.

Rosalie suddenly snapped her head to look up and me, then back to the magazine, and then back again. Alice was staring at me like she couldn't believe something.

I quirked an eyebrow at them and mouthed, What?

They practically ran over to me, Rosalie shoving the magazine into my face. My eyes widened as I stared at the woman on the page, sporting a beautiful hair style that looked like it was formed by the hands of the hair gods.

Okay, mental head slap. Did I really just think that? Alice's girliness has got to be contagious or something.

Alice clapped her hands together excitedly, watching my reaction. "This is what Rose is going to do for your hair!"

"No way."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, what's wrong with you? This is the perfect cut for you, I just know it. It screams your name."

I stared at the picture some more, but I still didn't see what she was talking about.

She sighed, rolling up the magazine and placing it on a nearby table. "I'm doing it whether you like it or not, so just get used to the idea, okay?"

And once again she spun me around, grabbing a pair of scissors and grinning deviously. I blinked.

"Now just hold still, dear, this will only take a minute."

:D I know I like this chapter, but let me know what you think!

Asta-la-bye-bye!