ahh, thank you guys for the reviews and to everyone who's added this to their favorites or alerts! just incase anyone is wondering: this is based in september, 2009. let's say saturday was the 26th and sunday the 27th and so on.

sorry for the delay! work's been insanely busy. hopefully the next one'll be out a liiittle quicker.

*i don't own twilight or any of the characters.*

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Chapter Three

Bella Swan

After I woke up from my nap, I avoided any contact with the outside world. Not wanting to give Alice or Rosalie another chance to interrogate me, I shut off my phone and disabled the internet on my laptop. I finally decided to get dressed, just slipping on a pair of black yoga pants and a white long sleeved shirt, then settled down on the couch again to grade vocab tests and proof read articles that had been submitted to MPA's literary magazine, which I'd taken over this year because Mr. Allen decided he had too many other things going on. It was okay though, because I'd wanted to take it over since I first started at the school.

We had some amazing students with amazing ideas; they never ceased to amaze me with their creativity and dedication to the magazine. I also phoned the school and let them know I wouldn't need off the following few days after all and that they could feel free to cancel the substitute they'd gotten to cover my classes.

After I finished, I realized I had nothing left to do to kill time. I wasn't tired thanks to the nap I'd taken. Everything was graded. Lesson plans were done. Articles were proof read and corrected. My apartment was spotless, my laundry was done. I sighed. It was at times like these where I wished I was one of those people who slacked off and let things pile up so I had something to do to keep me busy.

These were also the times where I let my mind wonder to thoughts of being married, having babies. I closed my eyes and saw Edward Cullen. His handsome face with his perfect nose and wonderful green eyes. I thought about his hair and what an uncommon color it was. I wondered if I'd ever see him again. But even through my fantasizing, I knew I was being crazy.

Of course you wouldn't see him again, Bella. You ran out of his apartment after the best night of your life. Even if you did see him again, he probably wouldn't be interested. He's so hot and you're so… plain. Ugh. And he probably thinks you're insane. End of story -- stop obsessing about him and how pretty your babies would be. They'd probably get my stupid brown hair and stupid brown eyes.

I ordered Chinese food and ate while watching last weeks' episode of The Office, glad to have some mindless television to distract me. Of course, the relationship between Jim and Pam made me long for that and I laughed at myself because really, who is jealous of fictional people? But they were so cute and happy and having a baby who would be cute and happy and had a cute little house that made them happy and they'd overcome so much… like stupid Roy and Connecticut and art school yet they were still so blissful.

Rolling my eyes, I finished my chicken and broccoli and went to the kitchen, rinsing off the plate before putting it in the dishwasher. Then I looked at my refrigerator and the pictures covering it. There were pictures of Alice, Rose and me. Pictures of Charlotte and Henry, both together and separate, little wallet size ones from professional photo sessions that their parents had taken them to. Charlotte's blonde curls were a stark contrast to Henry's dark hair. They looked alike, which wasn't surprising seeing as they were cousins, but different at the same time. I felt a familiar pang of envy. Rose and Alice were linked in that way. I'd never be part of it.

I took a deep breath and bit my lip, willing the tears that sprung to my eyes away. Eventually I turned off the light in the kitchen, standing in a few minutes in the darkness and letting the tears fall. I was being a big baby, not the twenty-eight year old I was but tonight, just for a few minutes, I didn't care.

After I calmed down, I got ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, taking my time. It was early, only 9:30 but I knew that this week would be long and figured I'd get as much rest as I could. I climbed into my bed and snuggled down into the pillows and blankets. It didn't take long to fall asleep; I wasn't one of those people who had a ton of trouble sleeping.

That was the first night I dreamt of Edward Cullen.

~*~

My alarm clock was set for five o'clock but I was awake by four after an especially… exciting dream about Edward Cullen. I debated just laying around, wasting time until it was time to wake up but I had already decided that I wasn't going to wallow about life. I had a one night stand, who cares? Obviously it was the universe's way of telling me that maybe I wasn't supposed to have a baby right now.

So instead of lying around, I got up and changed into my work out clothes. Taking my hair out of the pigtail braids, I pulled it up in a ponytail and went down to the fitness center that the apartment building had. I tried to avoid it at this time of day because it was busy but I figured it'd be a positive way to burn the excess energy I seemed to have. I put my iPod earphones in and got onto a treadmill next to an older man and started jogging.

"Hey there, little lady," the man panted, clearly not used to running at the pace he had going.

I pretended not to hear him, staring straight ahead but after about the fifth time he leered at me suggestively, I huffed and stopped the machine. Glaring for a second, I turned and left, tugging out my earphones as I made my way back to my apartment, deciding I'd take a shower and check my e-mail.

I took my time in the shower, using my new philosophy strawberry milkshake body wash. After I was finally finished, I toweled off and picked out my outfit for the day, mulling over the contents of my closet before picking out grey wide leg trouser pants and a dark blue turtleneck that was short sleeved. I figured it would hide the hickeys on my neck without me doing extra work.

Alice had been doing my shopping for years, I'd give her my credit card and a limit and she'd spend the next week working on the project. I hated to shop, she loved it. She knew exactly what suited me. If it were up to me, I'd probably wear some variation of the same outfit every day. Thanks to her though, I had an extensive, very pricey wardrobe that didn't make me feel out of place with my students and coworkers, who all seemed to come from money.

After getting dressed and finishing my hair, I only had a few minutes left but I booted up my laptop anyway and opened my e-mail, turning my phone on at the same time. Like yesterday, I had a bunch of text messages. This time they were mostly from Rose.

Are you calling me back? It doesn't take that long to get into your apartment. – Rose

Em told me the guy you left with is rich. And hot. – Rose

Ok, he didn't say hot but I caught a look at him. – Rose

His dad's a doctor. A brilliant cardiologist, apparently. They've been friends with Em's parents forever. – Rose

Bella, I'm in labor. Call ASAP. – Rose

That was a lie. I guess your phone really is off and you're not going to answer. – Rose

Rolling my eyes at her antics, I turned my attention to my work e-mail. A few e-mails from students asking questions that I should have probably answered yesterday but only one stood out. E. Cullen? What? My hands were shaking slightly as I clicked the e-mail. It couldn't be from Edward, where would he have gotten my e-mail address?

From: E. Cullen ()

To:

Sent: Sunday, September, 27, 2009 12:07 PM

Subject: (no subject)

Turns out I'm the new piano teacher at MPA and I found the most interesting thing in the staff directory… you. Thought you'd get away that easily, huh? ;) See you at school tomorrow.

Edward

Oh. My. God. Oh my god. What?

~*~

Edward Cullen

I arrived at school an hour before I had to be there. There were a few things I had to take care of but really, I wanted to see her. Bella. She hadn't responded to my e-mail the day before and I wasn't even sure that she'd seen it. I found my classroom and saw that it seemed pretty standard and worked on setting up my things, putting my laptop on the desk then I headed to the teachers' lounge, hoping she'd be hanging around there before class but had no luck. There were a few teachers hanging around and I decided to introduce myself since they were eyeing me anyway.

"Hey," I nodded toward them, "I'm Edward Cullen, new piano teacher."

"Oh, you're the one taking over for Angela… we were wondering who'd they'd bring in… Cullen, that sounds familiar? I'm Kate Denali, by the way." She was cute, young with long blonde hair that was probably fake and a lot of make up. Opposite of Bella.

I chuckled, a little nervous because most people had heard the name Cullen, most likely from the fact that my father was a famous cardiologist.

"Yeah, I went here so maybe that's where you've heard it from. Hey, do you know where Isabella Swan's classroom is? I'm a friend of a friend and wanted to stop in and say hi."

Kate scrunched up her nose – which looked fake – and nodded, "Bella? Yeah, she's in room 203. I don't think she's here today though, she was having some sort of medical… thing done."

"Medical thing?"

"Something like that. Top secret, real hush, hush."

"Huh. She seemed healthy to me on…" I stopped myself, running my hand through my hair. "Never mind. I'll just swing by her classroom anyway to see if she's here."

I waved to Kate and nodded again toward the other teachers, two other young girls who'd kept quiet through our exchange and walked out the door. I headed toward room 203, finding it easily since it's where I had senior year English and peeked in the door.

Kate must have gotten Bella confused with someone else because there she was, talking with two students. She seemed to be explaining something enthusiastically and two punks seemed like they were staring at her chest instead of at her face as she spoke. I clenched my hands into fists, feeling a flash of rage before I calmed down.

What the fuck, Edward? You slept with her once, she fucking snuck out. You have no right to be jealous of two kids checking her out. She's hot. If she'd had been your high school teacher, you definitely would've tried to bang her.

I waited until the students left then knocked on the door to get her attention. Her head whipped up and her face turned bright red faster than I've ever seen happen to anyone.

"Oh! Um, Edward… hi," she stumbled her ways through the words, clearly taken off guard. She didn't seem all that surprised to see me though, which lead me to believe she either knew who I was or had read the e-mail I'd sent her. I walked into the room and sat on the edge of one of the desks in the front row, grinning at her with more confidence than I felt.

"Miss Swan. I heard a rumor that you'd be out today… glad it was wrong."

"Oh. Oh… yes. The, um, the situation was called off?" Bella said it as more of a question, like she wasn't sure how to phrase what she was trying to say.

"I see. So do you often disappear out of men's apartments after nights of amazing sex?"

"I… excuse me? Are you insinuating something, Edward Cullen? Of course I don't! I was… drunk! And you were drunk! So it doesn't even count!"

I cringed, feeling the tips of my ears turn red because I hadn't really meant to insinuate that she slept around.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just… you didn't leave a number or say bye or shit like that. And the sex was amazing so I was hoping that we'd maybe go out sometime."

Wow, Cullen. When did you turn into a chick?

"Look, I'm sorry I left. I don't normally do that but I had a lot going on and… well…" she lowered her voice to a whisper before continuing, "did you use condoms?"

What the fuck. I stared at her for a minute, racking my brain trying to remember, "I… don't know? I was fucking drunk, I can't remember."

Bella groaned softly and threw her hands up in the air, mumbling under her breath. Just as she looked like she was about to speak, a student knocked on the door.

"Miss Swan? I had some questions about my article for the magazine…" the young girl seemed timid and like she knew she was interrupting a very personal, inappropriate for school grounds conversation.

"Of course, Maggie. Mr. Cullen was just leaving," Bella gave me a look that dared me to say otherwise.

"That I was but Miss Swan, we'll have to finish this conversation later. I promise you that."

~*~

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