A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks for the reviews!

(Previously):

Edward slowly stepped to the front of the room to the podium and began speaking. "Well, that certainly was an interesting way to start our day, wasn't it? I'm sure you all know that type of behavior is not in the spirit of Camp Catawba , so let's all just agree that it won't happen again. With that behind us, we'll take a brief break and return to the campgrounds to clean up before proceeding onto our scheduled activities. As far as cleanup, well…one of our very own counselors – Emmett – has volunteered, and the maintenance staff has also agreed to help," Edward finished, his gaze shifting between Jasper and Emmett, who both looked resentful.

Since it hadn't been the kids' fault at all but really Jasper and Emmett's, I had to admire the way Edward handled the situation. Agreeing to take a break before all of our daily activities, we all filed out of the mess hall and headed back to camp to take our second round of showers for the day, while Alice grumbled about there not being enough time to run to the shop to get back-up outfits for the day. Her campers had all been neatly clad in designer shades of pink, but were now covered in food and would have to change into mismatched ensembles. I briefly wondered exactly how many tokens she was handing out daily, and made a note to hand some of my own out later – I didn't want my group to feel left out.

Chapter 11:

I'd checked my itinerary earlier out of fear, and had to admit to myself that I wasn't feeling all that bad about today's activity as I led my group to the Crafts area, which was set up under a small pavilion next to a large clearing surrounded by trees. Out of all the options, surely this one presented the least opportunity for trouble. We were paired up with Mike's group today, which wasn't exactly ideal, but hopefully he'd keep busy helping his kids.

I settled my group in their seats, and when I looked up I was pleased to see Angela heading in our direction. She must be assisting us today, which would be nice – she was so easy to be around, and I hadn't gotten to talk to her much since we'd arrived.

Angela smiled at me, and then began passing out the materials for our project. She informed us we'd be building and flying kites today. Hopefully they had some extra back-up kites in supply in case some of the kids had problems assembling theirs.

It seems as though it was carefully planned out – the kits provided were very basic and easy for the kids to understand. Angela directed them all patiently and made sure they were all on the right track. Once they all had the structure of the kites ready, Angela announced that they could now move on to the fun part – decorating them. She distributed lots of things amongst the tables – markers, glitter, stickers, construction paper, safety scissors, glue and a few other items.

Watching the different ranges of creativity was interesting; some kids were going into intricate detail, while some just went for the stickers and left it at that. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Mike kept watching me, but thankfully Angela distracted him with one of his campers whenever he looked as if he were going to move in my direction. She really was a great friend – and very perceptive. After a few minutes, she came back to check on my campers' progress.

"So Bella, how have you been? Is everything for the wedding ready?" she asked.

"I've been good – Alice has been a miracle worker, so I haven't had to worry much about wedding plans. What about you – are you excited about college?" I asked, happy to have a moment to catch up with her.

Angela began excitedly describing her plans, and I listened happily. I knew she'd have a great future ahead of her. After a while, she glanced back around at the kids. They were mostly done aside from a few, so she began gathering some of the materials from the kids that were finished and left to take them back to the storage cabinet in the mess hall.

I began circling the table, studying some of the finished products. When I reached Sophie, I noticed she was one of the few that weren't finished quite yet. She smiled up at me uncertainly as if seeking approval, so I leaned over her to get a closer look.

"Looks great, Sophie. You should be very proud of that kite," I said, causing her smile to grow. As I began to straighten myself back up, her kite began to follow me. Huh. That was odd…then I realized what the problem was – my hair had fallen over my shoulder and was lying in a small pool of glue she'd recently applied to her kite.

"Oops – sorry, Sophie. Let me get that," I murmured, carefully working to remove the strands from the glue.

"I'm sorry, Bella," she said, reaching up to try and help. Her little hands tugged at the ends of my hair, and for some reason it seemed to be getting worse.

"Ouch – hang on, Sophie. Quit moving for a second, please," I said calmly, trying to get control of the situation. Sophie obeyed and froze, her innocent eyes gazing up at me, her hands still embedded in my hair.

"Sophie…did you have more glue on your hands?" I asked.

Sophie's face reddened. "Um…maybe…" she trailed off. She was beginning to look upset. The few remaining girls that hadn't wandered off to play in the clearing just stared silently at the developing situation in front of them.

"No – don't be upset Sophie – it could happen to anyone," I said. "Let's just figure out how to get you unattached," I murmured, looking around for assistance. Mike was helping one of his kids finish up his kite, and I was hesitant to ask him for help anyway – he'd probably interpret it to mean I wanted to date him.

"What on earth – Bella, are you all right?" a voice called out – Angela. She suddenly appeared, having returned from the mess hall. Thank goodness.

"Yes, we're fine…just having a bit of a glue situation here, that's all," I replied, keeping my tone light for Sophie's benefit.

"Yes…I see that," Angela said, taking in the scene. She tugged at the kite, which she was able to work free after a few minutes, but by then Sophie's hands were fairly encrusted with dried glue and definitely stuck to my hair. "Why don't you two come with me, and we'll get you separated," she suggested.

Nodding, I picked Sophie up and shifted her weight onto my hip, carrying her so that I didn't have to walk bent over the whole way to the mess hall. I realized I was pushing my luck by taking her into my own arms, likely doubling our chances for further injury, but given the alternative I decided to take my chances. Trying to walk all the way over to the mess hall bent at an odd angle which would throw my balance way off seemed like a much worse idea.

When we safely arrived, Angela took us back into the kitchen where Esme was preparing items for lunch. She gasped when she saw us.

"We're fine, we're fine – just used a little too much glue, that's all," I said before she could worry too much.

Angela had Sophie hold her hands and the section of my head she was stuck to under warm water at the large kitchen basin. She worked slowly, gently loosening the tiny fingers from my hair. Finally, Sophie was free and I could set her down. Angela handed me a small towel to pat my sections of damp hair, which I fluffed vigorously around my head trying to hurry.

"Sorry I can't get the rest out right now – you've got to get back to the other kids, and I'm afraid that's going to take some time to work out, Bella. A long shower and lots of shampoo should do the trick later though," Angela smiled apologetically at me. "Since the craft portion of the activity is over, I'm scheduled to stay here with Mrs. Cullen and help prepare lunch."

Glancing into the stainless steel surface of the countertops, I couldn't make out exactly what I looked like, but I could tell my hair was a mess – it looked like a giant pouf of cotton candy or something. The remaining glue seemed to have reactivated a bit from the water, and by trying to fluff my hair dry with the towel I'd made it much, much worse.

I shrugged, smiling back at Angela. "Oh well, it could be worse, right?" I laughed, patting Sophie on the head. Esme watched with concern as Sophie and I left to head back to the pavilion. When we arrived, the others were already in the clearing, working to get their kites in the air.

As luck would have it, there was enough of a breeze in the air and after a little while the kites were flying, the kids all spread out across the field. They were having a great time, so I sat down in the grass to relax for a bit.

A second later, Mike wandered over and sat down next to me. "That's an interesting look, Bella," he grinned, nodding at my hair. "I especially like the sparkling effect – the glitter is a nice touch," he laughed.

Glitter? Great – Sophie must have had that all over her hands too. I rolled my eyes at him.

"So…you're really going through with this whole wedding thing? I mean…are you sure you want to be with Cullen for the rest of your life?" he asked doubtfully.

I sighed. "Yes, Mike – I'm absolutely sure I want to marry Edward, and I can't wait to start my life with him, ok?"

Now Mike sighed. "Look, I'm just saying I think he's kind of weird – his whole family is, for that matter. I think you could do a lot better," he added suggestively.

"Mike, if you're going to sit here and continue to pick on Edward and his family or discourage me from marrying me, then I'm not going to continue this conversation, got it?" I replied icily.

"Err – it looks like one of your kids is having some trouble," Mike muttered.

I followed his gaze, and saw that Sophie had gotten her kite tangled in a pine tree on the perimeter of the clearing. I hopped up and quickly made my over to try to help her.

Sophie looked upset. "I'm sorry Bella," she whispered, looking guilty. It made me feel horrible for her – she was having a rough day so far.

"Sophie, it's not your fault, don't feel bad – you can't help which way the wind blows silly," I replied, smiling encouragingly at her. "Let me see what I can do, ok?"

I approached the tree, trying to assess the point of impact, with Sophie following. It didn't look too bad – the string was caught on one of the lower branches, which although was still situated taller than me, I thought I'd be able to reach easily enough. I reached up, but I missed it on the first attempt.

"Sophie, you should come closer so you can pull the string tight when I get it loose – that way it won't get further tangled, ok?" I asked. She nodded, and moved forward so she was right next to me.

I yanked on the string a bit harder this time, but it was still stuck – it was something about the angle it was caught at. "Sophie, can you move around to the right of the tree and tug? That might help me a bit," I suggested.

She did as I asked and as she tugged, I leaned forward as much as I could on my tiptoes, and flicked at the string with my fingertips. Suddenly, it gave way and came loose.

Sophie gasped and reacted by running backwards, pulling on the string. "Wait – go the other way, Sophie – it's wrapping around me," I said, motioning with my hands. In response, she began to circle back the other way, but the string was caught on my belt buckle, and now I was stuck with two layers of string weaving me to the tree.

"Err – all right, hold on – can you try going back the way you just came from please? It got caught on my belt," I explained, smiling apologetically to the six year old. She began circling, but in the wrong direction.

"Um, not that way – the other way – hang on, it's catching again – err…no, the other way – yes that seems to be helping…no wait, it's making it worse I think…to the left, Sophie – no, your other left…" I stammered, wondering what on earth was happening.

Five minutes later, Sophie stopped, her eyes wide. "Bella, I think maybe we need some help," she whispered, staring up at me. I had to admit she was right; I was completely surrounded by a cocoon of string, secured to the tree. I probably looked like I was caught in a spider web.

I sighed. "Yes, I think you're right…can you go get the other counselor, Mike for me? Thanks Sophie," I said, gritting my teeth over the fact I had to ask Mike for help.

I watched her run over to him, and motion towards me and the tree. His brow creased, and he made his way over to me.

"Bella…what happened to you?" he asked, taking in my situation.

"I was trying to help Sophie get her kite free, Mike. Could you please get me loose? We weren't having much luck," I replied, doing my best to keep the sarcasm from my voice.

Mike chuckled. "Sure, Bella, I can help. Maybe next time you should ask someone else to help instead of getting involved yourself," he added, smirking.

He began with where Sophie had left off, carefully tracing the string's path backwards, slowly unraveling its hold on me. Every time he passed in front of me, he paused, lingering more than necessary – it was beyond irritating. When he got down to the very last layer of string, he leaned in and reached his arms around either side of me, passing the string from his right hand to his left on the other side of the tree, trapping me in an odd sort of half-embrace. "There, that should do it, Bella," he breathed into my hair. A second later he pulled away from me, grinning.

Tired of his immature behavior, I tried to step away from the tree to return to my campers, but my clothing was resisting my movements. Confused, I tried to look over my shoulder to see what the problem was. A sweet smell filled my senses. I hadn't noticed it before since I'd been so distracted with the kite - tree sap. Sighing irritably, I peeled the back of my shirt and shorts free from the tree with such force I fell over onto the ground with a huff, landing in a pile of pine needles. Mike just looked at me as if I were a source of amusement for him, and then offered me his hand to help me up.

Glaring at him, I refused his hand and stood up by myself, stomping off toward my campers who looked slightly startled at my new appearance. Now not only did I have sparkly hair that looked like I'd stuck my finger in a light socket, but my entire backside was covered in sharp spiky pine needles as well. Exhausted and hungry, I just waved them towards the mess hall, mumbling something about it being lunchtime and following behind them. Who knew something like Crafts could be so dangerous?

When we entered the hall, I was thrilled to see that we were some of the first there, and I didn't hesitate to get into line immediately. Esme took in my appearance again as I moved down the line, her face full of concern. I smiled at her to let her know despite my resemblance to some sort of cave person, I was fine. She shook her head, and turned back to the kids in line. I could feel most of the eyes in the room fixate on me and I purposefully ignored them and got the rest of my food.

As I was sitting at our usual table inhaling my food, Edward and his group entered the hall. His gaze immediately met mine and his eyes widened to an unusual extent. He made his way quickly – almost a little too quickly – to my side, settling into the chair beside me.

"Bella…." he paused, seemingly unsure of what to say. "Love, are you all right?" he asked finally, moving to rest a hand on my shoulder then thinking better of it. "What on earth happened?" his eyes swept over me from head to toe, clearly at a loss for words.

I sighed. He'd been with Rosalie's group at Archery today and hadn't had any contact with Alice, so of course he was confused to as of why I looked the way I did. "I know I look horrible, Edward. There was nothing I could do about it, ok? It was just a mess, and even now I'm not sure how it all happened. It was just one thing after another."

"Don't be ridiculous – you're absolutely beautiful as always. It's just – well, you don't exactly look comfortable," he added, apparently trying to make me feel better. He moved in closer to me and carefully peeled a glued strand of hair off of my neck, when suddenly he froze.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked. Usually when he acted like that it wasn't a good sign.

His brow furrowed, and he moved even closer, discreetly sniffing the air around me before leaning back in his chair. He looked very distraught, and I couldn't imagine why.

I asked him repeatedly what was wrong, but he kept dismissing it, telling me everything was fine. I was about to ask him to explain his odd behavior for the fifth time when the loud clattering noise of a tray dropping onto our table distracted me.

I glanced up to see Emmett standing there, openly staring at me with his mouth hanging open. He blinked once, and then erupted into a fit of laughter. "Bella," he gasped trying to gain control of his voice, "you look like an electrocuted porcupine," he finished, clutching at his sides.

I just nodded in agreement, still gazing at Edward in confusion, who didn't even acknowledge Emmett's remark; instead he was simply staring down at the table lost in his own thoughts.

Shortly after that the rest of the Cullens showed up, and I took in each of their concerned reactions one by one. Alice actually squeaked in shock when she saw me – she said she'd had the vision of it happening, but that it was entirely different seeing the real-life version. Edward remained quiet and the more time that went by the more agitated he looked, and I was beginning to freak out a little. He was still silent, but now he was glancing steadily back and forth from Mike to me.

"So, Bella – are you enjoying yourself so far?" Carlisle asked, interrupting my thoughts. It was almost funny how he was always trying to ignore the obvious – did it look like I'd had fun today?

Ignoring my instinct to snort sarcastically at his question, I replied politely instead – it was Carlisle after all, and he was only trying to make me feel normal. "Oh. Um, yes, I guess it's not been that bad…" I replied, my concentration returning to Edward.

"That's wonderful, dear. I'm so glad you're having a good time – your campers seem to have taken to you, especially the one named Sophie," Esme said, smiling sincerely at me.

"Yeah…Sophie's a good kid," I answered, my brow creased as I stared down at my half-empty tray.

"And the rest of you – I'm proud that you're doing so well. Alice, despite your earlier slip-up of opening an onsite store to supply designer clothing for your campers, I have to admit I'm impressed by your willingness to at least leave technology behind for the week. It shows you're able to adapt - even when you thought you couldn't," Carlisle said, gazing fondly around the table at his family.

"Well…there has been some adapting, and it's taken some work," Alice replied evasively, turning her head slightly away. I noticed from my position there was a brief glimpse of guilt that crossed her face.

"Well I think it's just great that –" Carlisle began, but was suddenly cut off as a fist slammed into the table, hard enough to get our attention, but not as to make the table disintegrate. My arms had been resting on the table, and a shower of pine needles drifted from my shoulders down onto the tray in front of me.

"Bella, you're shedding in your food," Emmett muttered, but nobody paid him any attention. The rest of us were all staring in surprise at the owner of the fist – Edward.

"Bella. Are you having an affair with Newton?" he asked in a hushed, urgent tone, his eyes dark and brooding.

Everyone stared in shocked silence at Edward – everyone, including myself. After a few moments, I was able to splutter a reply.

"Edward – what on earth are you talking about? I mean…what?" was my brilliant response, at a loss to come up with anything more coherent.

Edward leaned forward and sighed, his head hanging. "When I got close enough to you tonight, I noticed you had his scent all over you – at first it was masked slightly by the forest debris along with your own lovely scent, but then when I leaned closer to you it was unmistakable - even now it clings to your skin," he shuddered. "I tried to dismiss it, but as I sit here, his thoughts are practically screaming at me, driving me into insanity…all he's done is sit over there at that table, thinking over and over how wonderful it had felt to finally have his arms around you this afternoon, and how he should have kissed you while I wasn't around," he finished, his voice fading off into a quiet growl as he raised his gaze to stare at Mike again.

I reached out to grasp Edward's hands in mine. "Edward – you are letting him get to you too much. You know I belong to you and only you forever. We're getting married, remember? I'm guessing I smelt like him to you because he was helping me get free from the tree this afternoon, and he had to get pretty close. As far as his thoughts about kissing me – well, he can forget that ever happening, or I swear I'll hit him as hard as I hit Jake, and he's not a werewolf so it might just hurt," I said, anger flashing in my eyes at the mere thought of Mike even trying such a thing.

Edward slowly met my gaze, and when he looked into my eyes a small smile began to appear. "I'm so sorry Bella – I really don't know what's gotten into me. Can you forgive me?" he asked, looking slightly ashamed.

"There's nothing to forgive, Edward. You know I love you – and I'll tell you something else, you're not sitting out at that campfire all alone tonight. Listening to Mike's thoughts and us not being together while I sleep is definitely taking its toll on you – we'll figure something out," I said, leaning into his side. He put his arm around me, gently patting my pine needle-encrusted back.

The rest of the family pretended to carry on polite conversation, seemingly giving us our own moment to sort everything out. I don't know why they really bothered – I knew they were hanging on our every word, ensuring that everything was ok.

A/N: Please remember to review! Just a couple more and we'll hit 300, yay!! Thanks!