A/N: Well, all of you seemed to enjoy that last chapter, especially that last sentence. I know most of you would be happy if I had the bus crash and Jessica and Lauren were the only ones who didn't walk away, but sadly, that is not what is going to happen. However, I promise you will enjoy some of the upcoming chapters. With that being said…

DISCLAIMER: still not her. Too bad, so sad.

BPOV

Saturday, January 7th

The first week of the new year flew by quicker than I expected. Nothing was different, except I didn't eat lunch with my friends. I ate lunch in the gym each day, and Coach James put me to work each day working on various stats for the basketball team. These all had to be organized for the upcoming banquet at the end of the season. I was thankful for the extra project to keep my mind off of Edward and the other people in my life.

By the time Saturday came, I was exhausted. I was tired of avoiding Edward's questions and accusing stares. I didn't want him to be upset because he was a good guy and deserved to be happy. I didn't want him to worry about me. I knew today would be difficult because we would be working together with two other people on our music project. I was supposed to be at his house in a half hour. I would normally be more than happy to get there early, but since I knew that it would lead to awkward questions, I waited until the last possible minute to begin walking toward Edward's house. The phone rang as I was about to leave.

It was Mike. "Hey, Bella. Are we still on for tonight?"

I had almost forgotten the movie night at Mike's house we had planned during study hall Monday. "Yeah. Are you still picking me up?"

"Of course. Do you want me to pick you up at your house or at your friend's?" Mike was nice enough to ask earlier this week where I was going to be while working on my project.

"Um, well… I don't know how long I will be at Edward's. Why don't you plan on picking me up here. I'll call if I'm not going to make it back here in time and if that's the case then you can pick me up at Edward's. Will that work for you?" I hated the idea of imposing on him, but he seemed eager to make this night happen.

"That's fine. Just give me a call by 5 and let me know whether I have to pick you up at the Masens' house instead of your's. Talk to you later Bella."

With that we hung up and I ran out the front door, grabbing my backpack as I ran out the door. I arrived last in our group at Edward's house. Everyone had already gathered in Edward's room where they were looking through his CD collection. Edward was sitting on his bed with magazine articles. He looked like he was reading silently as our other partners worked to pull appropriate music that we could use in our presentation. A laptop was sitting on Edward's bed ready to start the presentation work. I walked in a quietly as possible and took a deep breath as I sat down on the edge of Edward's bed by the computer.

"Sorry I'm late guys. The phone rang just as I was leaving, and I ended up staying on it longer than I had intended."

They all mumbled that it was all right and went back to whatever they were working on before I entered the room. I sighed and started pulling open the appropriate program on the computer while music was being pulled from Edward's shelves. Soon we were all laughing at suggestions for music that would accompany a celebrity's death. Edward and I almost fell off the bed we were laughing so hard. Time was flying by and I looked over at the alarm clock on Edward's bedside table. I saw that it was a few minutes before 5 and knew I would have to call Mike to let him know I would be here when he would pick me up.

"Um, I'll be right back guys," I said to everyone as I left Edward's room to head out to the kitchen.

Elizabeth was there working on dinner when I came into the room. "Hi Elizabeth. Do you mind if I use you phone. I have to call a friend and let them know to pick me up here."

Elizabeth smiled at me and nodded as she said, "Of course, Bella." As I dialed Mike's number she continued, "We haven't seen you around here much lately. We miss you, you know."

I smiled back at Elizabeth, but didn't have a chance to respond as Mike answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Mike. It's Bella. I'm still at the Masens'. Can you still pick me up here?" I asked him.

"Of course. I'll be by in about a half hour. Is that enough time or does your group need longer? I can pick you up whenever." I couldn't believe he was being so nice.

"No, a half hour is fine. We're almost finished, but we will be working for a little bit longer. Thanks and I'll see you then." I smiled as I hung up the phone. For some reason, I was actually looking forward to watching movies with Mike tonight. I thanked Elizabeth before walking out of the kitchen and heading back to Edward's room.

We finished the project shortly after that and soon Edward and I were left alone in his room to clean up and put CDs back on the shelves. I knew Edward's organization system for his music so I figured I would help him. We worked silently side-by-side for a few minutes. I could tell Edward was trying to ask me, so I beat him to it by speaking first. "So, this was fun. I hope all our projects are this entertaining."

"Yeah, it was fun. It was nice seeing you too. I haven't gotten to talk to you much lately. You haven't been in lunch either. Where have you been?"

"Oh, well. I've been eating lunch in the gym." I didn't want to go into details unless he asked for them.

"Why? Did I do something? I mean, are you mad at someone at our table?" He looked concerned and turned to face me.

"No," I lied. "I'm… I just… Well, Coach James has been putting me to work. He has me organizing all of this season's stats for all the players. The goal it to have it all in order by the banquet so he can pass out awards and stuff."

I walked toward his bedroom door and grabbed my backpack. I almost didn't hear him when he whispered, "It's not the same at lunch without you."

I stopped and turned to face him. He was walking towards me and stopped just inches from me. He had grown over the holiday and was now at least 3 inches taller than before. I looked up at him as he looked down at me. We stood like that for a few moments just looking at each other's faces and features. We were shaken from that pose as the doorbell rang, and I knew that Mike would be here to pick me up. I let out a deep breath that I didn't realize I had been holding.

I turned from Edward and walked quickly down the stairs to see Mike standing in the entrance. Elizabeth was greeting him and I saw that he held a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. He saw me coming down the stairs and held out the flowers as he greeted me. I smiled and accepted the gift as Elizabeth held my coat out to me. I saw Edward glaring down from the top of the steps at us. I said goodbye and thank you to everyone and then Mike and I left.

He had a black Chevy Escalade that was parked in the driveway. He walked me to the passenger side and held open the door so I could get inside. He walked around the front while I smelled the arrangement of flowers. He got inside the car and started the engine quickly. We were backing out of the driveway within seconds. I looked back at the house and saw two sets of curtains, one upstairs and one downstairs, close as if someone had been looking out the windows at us. The drive to Mike's house was filled with simple conversation, including when Mike admitted to waiting to hear me call and cancel our plans. I was surprised that he seemed nervous, but didn't question it further. We were soon at his house and he walked me through the front door.

His parents greeted us and left to go upstairs, leaving us alone in the living room. Mike told me to make myself comfortable as he went to the kitchen to get drinks and snacks for the movie. I set my bag and coat on a large chair by the door and sat on one side of a couch across from a large screen television. Mike returned with a tray of things, including a big bowl of popcorn and snacks that you would normally find at the theater. It was sweet how much thought he had put into this night. He set the tray in front of me on the coffee table, and I smiled up at him as I stole some chocolate and a handful of popcorn off the tray. He smiled back at me as he sat down beside me.

He started the movie after he had turned down all the lights. The ambiance was definitely like a movie theater. I grabbed the bowl of popcorn and placed it between us. We watched in silence for a while. I noticed about halfway through the movie Mike did a stereotype move and "stretched" before his arm found a home on the couch behind my shoulders. I started giggling at his move and his face fell as he removed his arm, and then suddenly he started laughing with me. I put the popcorn bowl back on the tray and decided to give the guy a break. I pulled his arm back around me so we could watch the rest of the movie.

When the movie ended, I helped Mike clean up. We talked about school and our favorite classes. We talked about things we liked to do outside of school and both found out that we liked to play video games. Mike asked me to go to the arcade with him next weekend sometime followed by dinner. I agreed and decided that maybe Mike wasn't as bad a guy as I had originally thought. After everything was clean, he helped me into my jacket and carried my bag to his car. He drove me home and held my hand as we made out way through the "busy" streets of Forks.

It didn't take long until we were pulling to a stop in front of my house. He walked me to the door and places a quick chaste kiss on my lips before turning and heading back to his car. I was so shocked that I couldn't even move. I watched him walk back to his car and get inside. I saw him smile at me before he pulled away. Only when he had pulled away could I turn back towards my house. I went inside and found my parents. Dad was sitting in front of the TV, asleep, as a football game was showing. Mom was in the kitchen. She asked me if I had fun. I told her about my night and she smiled like only a mother can smile at their daughter. Before I was able to head towards bed she handed me a stack of notes by the phone. I had four phone messages. I didn't even look at them as I climbed the stairs to my room.

I sat down on my bed and then began to sift through the messages. The first message was from Alice saying she was mad that she missed me today, but would see me Monday. The second message was from Edward saying that he called and wanted to know if I made it home okay. I looked at the time on the message and noticed it was only about an hour after I had left his house. That was weird. I shrugged and turned to the next message. It was also from Edward. This one was about 30 minutes later and it said the same thing, only this one said to call him when I got in. I sighed and looked at the last message. The last message was also from Edward and it was from about 45 minutes before I got home. I looked at my alarm clock sitting beside my bed and hoped that it wasn't too late to call. I dialed Edward's number and he answered after two rings.

"Bella, is that you?" he asked into the phone.

"Is that how you answer all your calls, because that could be funny if it was anyone else but me." I joked hoping that he would know I was amused by his tone of voice.

"Ha Ha, very funny. Where were you? I called all night and you weren't there."

"Well, after working on the project, Mike picked me up and we went back to his house to watch movies. Why? Is something wrong? Did something happen?" My mind began racing at all the things that could have caused Edward to call me all night.

"No, nothing happened. I just, well…" He was silent for a few moments.

"You just what, Edward?" I prompted.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you got home okay. I don't know how safe a driver Mike is and I didn't want to read that you two were in an accident or something tomorrow." His voice kind of died out towards the end of his speech.

"I'm fine Edward. I thought you knew I was going over to watch movies with Mike tonight. You heard us talking about it in study hall. I just assumed you figured out what was going on." I was getting frustrated by this conversation, and I had no idea why.

"So are you two, like, you know… dating now?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I guess. I mean he kissed me tonight and he asked me to go out with him again next weekend, so I guess that means we're going out. Wow, I never even realized that until just now." I couldn't believe that I had actually found someone other than Edward to be with.

Edward was silent for a while on the phone. "Edward? Edward are you still there?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking. You know Bella. I don't think it's such a great idea for you to date Mike. I mean, you don't really know him and he could be a jerk." I was getting mad at him. He had no business telling me who I could and couldn't date, especially since he barely waited a week after our breakup to ask out Lauren.

"Well, Edward, it's none of your business. I appreciate your concern, but you will just have to get over it." I hung up shortly after that, but had a hard time falling asleep that night. I don't know why, but that night I dreamed about Mike and Edward fighting in the gym at school.

A/N: now before all of you start sending me notes saying how much you hate Mike, please just give him a chance. At least, don't hate him for a few chapters anyways. After that, then maybe you'll have a good reason or two to hate the guy. Who knows, (oh wait, I do!) but I promise you'll have to hate me for a few chapters instead. Thanks for reading everyone!