A/N

Hey guys, sorry, I know I said it would be up by the end of last week, but it's monday, and it's a long weekend, so cut me some slack. I decided to cut this chapter into two, because it would have been pretty long and the main plot didn't really start for a while. That means there will be two more chapters after this one. I'm not going to set a deadline for them yet because I know I'll probably break it. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and please keep reviewing. Tell me what you think of this chapter, it's kind of a filler, but anyway. Thank you.

Sascha.

Chapter 6

EPOV

Monday. School. Ugh.

Who knew anything could possibly be so pointless and boring? But I had to admit, my sudden obsession with Bella had made things a lot more interesting.

She had been staying at our house for two days now. She still kept to herself mostly, but at least she wasn't acting like a frightened animal stuck in a cage anymore.

That first night, we'd just sat there in comfortable silence, and it felt so right. She didn't talk, but that was okay, she just needed time.

I'd even kissed her. If you can count what I did as a kiss. I guess it was. A goodnight kiss. She'd seemed shocked by it, and to be honest, I'd surprised myself. I hadn't planned it, it just…happened.

But she didn't protest, what did that mean? Ugh. I was starting to think that maybe I was developing a crush on a certain girl. Maybe Alice was right, after all. This whole thing had started out of sympathy and intrigue. It scared me to think it might be becoming something more.

I looked at my clock. It read 5:30 am. I still had plenty of time before I had to start getting ready for school, but I didn't feel like I was going to fall back asleep anytime soon.

I decided I may as well do something and got up and went downstairs. I made myself a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat it.

Suddenly, I heard a scream come from upstairs. It sounded like Bella. Alarmed, I started to get up to see what was going on, but before I got far, Bella ran into the dining room in her pajamas, followed closely by Alice, who was brandishing a hair straightener.

Bella ran and hid behind me, which made me smile. I wrapped my arms around her backwards protectively. Alice was looking very annoyed.

"Bella, it's 5:30 already. We have to start getting you ready for school."

I laughed as I realized what this was about. Alice would always be Alice. Deciding that Bella wasn't in any serious danger, I pulled her so that she was next to me rather than behind me. I kept my arms around her waist, though.

Bella's eyes were wide, and her gaze flickered between Alice and me. I was slightly…preoccupied, my eyes taking in her body next to mine. She looked down and blushed, which of course made me blush, too. I quickly dropped my arms and we stepped apart slightly. Alice smirked.

"Bella, come on, we don't have all day."

Bella looked at me pleadingly. I laughed again.

"Give it a rest, Alice."

She pouted, but after a serious glare from me she finally backed off.

"Half an hour, Bella. That's all I'm giving you."

I decided to bargain.

"One hour."

"Forty-five minutes."

"Deal."

Bella looked from Alice to me to Alice again and shook her head. I would have killed to know what she was thinking at that moment. Alice stormed off back upstairs.

Bella didn't look like she really wanted to go back to bed, so I asked if she wanted breakfast. She smiled and started to make a cup of tea. She didn't eat a lot, I'd noticed.

"So…"

The look on her face told me that I really didn't have to bother trying to make polite conversation.

We sat down in silence while I ate and she drank. Neither of us talked, again, but time passed really quickly. I almost jumped when Alice yelled from upstairs 'five minutes, Bella.'

She looked at me like she wanted to say something, but then looked away again. I was intrigued.

"What?" I asked.

She bit her lip and hesitated, but I smiled at her and finally she talked.

"Do you remember, a few days ago, you said we didn't have to be family, we could be friends. So, um, can we be? Friends, I mean."

I couldn't stop the part of my brain that silently asked in disappointment 'just friends?' But I smiled.

"Sure, friends."

Then I laughed.

"You'd better go upstairs before Alice comes down here to get you."

She sighed, but started to head upstairs.

After she was gone, I got ready for school myself. It didn't take me very long.

An hour and a half later, Bella walked down the stairs, followed again by Alice, who was smiling, obviously proud of her work.

Bella looked beautiful. She was wearing a short midnight blue dress, but it didn't look slutty like it might on other girls. She was wearing ballet flats and a belt around her waist that matched. Her hair had been straightened, and was let out, hanging loosely down her back. She wasn't wearing much make up. She looked natural, it suited her.

Alice giggled nervously and I realized that my mouth was hanging open. I quickly closed it. Bella smiled sweetly and headed towards the front door.

"We'd better get to school."

I followed like a sheep, too stunned to even act normal.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our first class that day was music performance. I was glad I had a class with Bella. We walked in together, and took our seats next to each other.

Soon Mr. Masen walked in.

"Okay guys, a new assessment task."

Everyone groaned. Mr. Masen ignored them.

"You will all be required to do a duet performance. It can be instrumental or with vocals, I don't really care. All I want is for you to have feeling in your music, and for me to be able to see that you feel each other's music and work together without it sounding strained and painful. Your mark from this task will contribute to your final mark. Your partner will be your desk partner. Good luck, get to work."

Bella and I looked at each other. Bella looked nervous, but I was excited. This would certainly be an experience, if nothing else.

A/N

So what do you think? I know it's kind of a filler chapter and completely irrelevent to the main plot, but it was fun to write. Next chapter will be Bella and Edward working on the duet. I'll be as quick as I can, but that could be a while. School starts again next week, so I'm trying to finish this story before then. I only have two chapters left so I should be able to. I know I could probably develop this plot further if I really wanted to, but I'm sorry, I just don't think I'm that good an author. Anyone who wants to pick up the story when I finish it is more than welcome. Just private messeage me. Please review! They make me very happy.

Sascha.