A/N: Hello everyone. I hope you are having a wonderful summer (holiday/break). I am thankful that you are wanting me to busy writing everyday. Writing had become a great release of energy and you all are making it worth while by spending your time reading it. Thanks a bunch. As a special bunch, this chapter has been broken up into three or four smaller chapters. I just didn't want to overload all of you with a 10,000 word chapter… so enjoy.

For all of you who have sent me messages regarding Edward's relationship with Lauren, I completely understand. For those of you who haven't heard/read, most of the events of this story are based on things that happened to me when I was in high school. So, that being said, I hope you will indulge me a few chapters or dealing with Edward who like any high school boy will date a few girls here and there.

DISCLAIMER: you know the drill…

BPOV

January 2nd

New Years came and went. I refused to go out with Alice to a New Year's party. I couldn't stand the idea of watching people around me trying to make out with one another just because the year was changing. Besides, my heart only wanted to be with one other person, and he was taken. Taken by the future head cheerleader. There was another reason to say no to the party. Why put my broken heart through watching Edward making out with Lauren? I was trying my best to get through each day, and I think I was becoming quite the actress. Even Emmett and my parents thought I had moved on from Edward.

We were supposed to return to school today. I was actually looking forward to getting back to school. I could get back to a routine, that at times would force me to be beside Edward, but routine was easier than just sitting at home alone with your thoughts. When left to my thoughts I was left to daydream and eventually, at night, dream about Edward.

Sure enough, my alarm rang at 6:30 this morning and I woken from a dream of me and Edward in a circular meadow. Instead I had to throw the covers off my bed and get ready for school I stepped off the bus about 70 minutes later, ready to see friends and teachers. I knew I would have to act normally around all of them if I expected them to buy my act.

I went straight to homeroom and was easily able to ignore Jessica. The announcements were made and soon the bell was ringing. I walked towards Spanish, secretly hoping that Edward would be sick and absent today. No such luck. He was already sitting in the classroom and Senora Walker was writing on the board. I sat down quietly and opened a book to silently read while I waited for class to begin.

"Good morning, Bella. How was your holiday? I didn't really get to talk to you at the basketball game the other day," Edward said.

I closed the book and took a quiet, deep breath. I had to act like normal. "It was fine. A little boring if I'm being honest, but it was nice to be away for a while. I think I was ready to come back though. How about you? Did you enjoy your time with Esme and Carlisle?" I asked him.

"Yeah, they were a lot of fun. They were like two kids, and when they grouped together with Alice, it was almost scary. I'm telling you, those three had too much energy and moved way to quickly to be human Christmas Day."

Class started shortly after that, and there were times throughout class that I caught Edward looking at me from the corner of my eye. I smiled at him slightly, and he returned my smile with his now infamous crooked grin. Apparently my plan was working, and Edward was buying my act. The bell brought me out of this revelation and my stomach plummeted. I had to make it through math next, which wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that Edward was the only reason I would ever pass this class. It was his private math lessons that actually got me through Algebra.

Mr. Black droned on for the entire period about something with way too many letters and numbers. I could almost feel my head starting to spin. Luckily for me Edward noticed my despair and assumed correctly that it was because of the math lesson. He slipped me a note saying that he would help me understand this during study hall or after school before our basketball game. I smiled over at him and thanked him silently before the bell rang and signaled freedom from numbers for a little while.

We walked to music talking about the last few remaining basketball games we had in the season. The boys would need to undefeated the rest of the season in order for the team to make playoffs. Unfortunately, we had two of our toughest opponents to play on the road and that made our chances that much more slim.

We walked into the music room and sat quietly as the bell rang. We were starting a project and had to create a musical experience for our peers. We had to use music to tell a story. We were given a topic from current events and had to use a variety of music from different genres to tell about that event. Edward and I were grouped together as well as another boy from the basketball team and Angela. Edward had the most extensive CD collection, so we were all going to meet at his house this weekend and put the project together on Saturday.

The bell rang and I went toward my social studies class. Alice was waiting and I again put on my happy face. It seemed to be getting easier as the day went along. I was even smiling when I made it to the gym after the next set of bells. The basketball coach was my gym teacher this year, and thankfully, he realized how big of a clutz I was. He was nicer to me now that I was a statistician for the basketball team, so he allowed me to "assist" from a distance as a cheerleader or spectator. It really was safer for everyone that way, and thankfully, my grade didn't seem to be hindered by my lack of athletic ability.

My day was actually going well as I walked into the cafeteria. Then my world came to a slamming stop. Lauren was sitting at our lunch table next to Edward. She was sitting in my seat and Jessica was walking over to the table. I knew Edward was dating her, but she had never sat with him at lunch before. I stood near the cafeteria doors as I watched Jessica join Edward and our friends at the table. I grasped my lunch in my left hand, and I could feel my knuckles tighten around the lunch bag until my knuckles were as white as possible.

Like a true coward, I turned around and walked quickly out the doors. Silent tears spilled over and ran down my cheeks. I don't know why I felt so betrayed by this, but suddenly, my heart felt like it had been shredded. My last glimmer of hope for a normal relationship with Edward was gone and I was forced to accept that he really had moved on and that he had moved on without me by his side. I wasn't paying attention to where my feet were leading me and I suddenly found myself back inside the gym. I sat underneath one of the baskets and ate my lunch. I was almost finished eating when coach James came into the gym and saw me sitting alone.

"Bella? Are you all right?" he asked me.

I tried to wipe any of the remaining tears from my cheeks and put on my best smile. "I'm fine coach. I just… well… I just needed some time alone. The cafeteria was pretty noisy today." I looked up at him and noticed he had a strange look in his eyes as he looked down at me. He shook his head and smiled sadly down at me.

"Well, Bella… remember you may not be a player on the team, but you are on the team nonetheless. You can always come to me for anything. Even if it's just to talk."

Wow, I always assumed the coach couldn't stand me because of my less than stellar performance in his class, but he was actually treating me pretty nicely and I was touched. "Thanks coach. I really appreciate that."

The bell rang shortly after that, and I stood quickly and left to get toward my English class. I was excited when I noticed that our teacher had placed a book on each of the desks. I went over to my desk quickly and saw that it was William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We were going to read one of the greatest plays ever written. I had already read it, but I was more than happy to be reading it again. Other students were showing up, but my nose was buried deep in the opening pages of this play. It turns out that our teacher was planning on having us act out certain scenes in the classroom as well as showing movie versions of the play once we had finished reading. We would also be seeing how the themes and plot line of Shakespeare's was adapted into other stories and movies. This was going to be a great unit. For some reason, I had always loved the story of two teenagers who fell in love and were willing to give up everything they knew to be with the other.

The bell rang and I took my copy of Romeo and Juliet with me as I went toward science. I walked a little slower than normal so I wouldn't have to face Alice's questions about my absence at lunch. I loved Alice, but I could never flat out lie to the girl and she had a way of always knowing the truth and answers to her questions.

I got to science just as the bell was ringing. I sat quietly and started taking notes as the teacher began the lecture. I noticed Alice looking at me curiously, but I did my best to ignore her and the looks she was giving me. I had my things gathered as best as possible so when the bell rang I could get out of the room as fast as possible and avoid her questions further. I made it to study hall in record time.

I sat in my seat and saw Mike Newton heading toward me. I buried my nose in my book again and hoped he would get the hint. Of course, Mike wasn't the brightest crayon in the box and immediately tried to strike up a conversation with me. "Hey Bella. Did you have a nice holiday? Mine was pretty great, I got a bunch of really cool movies. Do you want to come over and watch them with me sometime?"

At that moment I saw Edward stop at the doorway of the study hall to place a quick kiss on Lauren's cheek. Anger and betrayal shot through my system followed by hurt. I turned back to Mike and started answering his questions. "My holiday was a little boring, I got some nice things for Christmas though. Which movies did you get? I could probably go for a movie night or something. I mean, I'm sure school will get boring sooner or later." I couldn't believe I had actually agreed to hanging out with Mike, but who was I kidding. Edward wasn't waiting around for me, why should I wait around for him.

Edward was making his way over to where we were sitting and I saw him carrying his music notes and math book. I sagged slightly when I realized that he would try to talk to me all period about my least favorite subject. Mike however didn't notice my lack of concentration and continued telling me about all the movies he got. "…which one do you want to watch?"

"Oh well they all sound pretty good actually, but I say that vampire movie sounds the best. Then again, I've always had a thing for vampires. When did you want to watch the movies?" I asked him. By this time Edward had made his way over to us and he raised an eyebrow as he caught that line in the conversation.

"Oh, well how about Saturday night? We can make popcorn and everything?" Mike asked me hopefully.

"Saturday night sounds good, but I have to work on a music project during the day, so it would have to be after 5 or 6. Is that too late?" Part of me was almost looking forward to a movie night with Mike, the other part was cringing at the thought of hanging out with him for an entire evening.

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'll pick you up at your house or wherever you are working on the project then."

I smiled and nodded and turned around in my seat. I could see Edward looking at me and I turned to face him. I pulled his math book towards me and prepared myself for spending another period listening to another math concept that "I would use every day of my life". Edward continued to look at me in a strange way. His eyes kept darting back and forth between me and Mike. There was something in his eyes that I had never seen before. I shrugged it off when he finally sat up and started trying to get me through this math lesson and homework assignment.

By the end of study hall, I had most of my math done and thankfully, actually understood what I was doing. I thanked Edward and headed for the door. I could see he was about to ask me a question that I really didn't want to answer so I ran to catch up with Mike, who thankfully walked me to my locker. I got my books and book bag and headed toward the gym to wait for the bus that would take the team to the away basketball game. The cheerleaders were sitting in a circle gossiping about various people. I saw Coach James talking with his assistant. He smiled and nodded to me as I approached the group of students sitting in the hallway. Edward and his teammates were in the gym playing pick up games.

I grabbed my math book and worked silently to finish my homework before we left. Luckily for me, I was so absorbed in my work that I barely noticed the other people in the hallway. By the time we arrived at the game, I had my math, science and social studies done. I was even starting to read Romeo and Juliet to get a head start on that for English. I kept myself busy enough that I never even noticed Edward sitting with Lauren a couple rows behind me. I also never noticed that Edward never spoke to Lauren and kept his eyes on me the entire trip.

A/N: I hope all of you Lauren-haters appreciate that last sentence. More from the month of January soon. After all, this is just the 2nd and there are 29 days left in the month.

Also, before any of you make a comment or concern about it, I'm changing Bella's birthday to in February. I hope you all don't mind.