Hey there, readers :) Sorry I haven't been updating for ages, I'm sure the anticipation of what-happens-next has been killing you... LOL jks :P Just another fanfic story!

Finally finished my second last year of schooling! Whoopee! The year has been so intense! Now two months of holidays! :D Which means more updating... actually, isn't it about time I got a job? I think so. :\

I have a few more ideas up my sleeve... written some down, started some too actually, but I don't want to get started with those when I can't get around to even updating this one, if you know what I mean.

Anyhoozles... here is Chapter 5!

Happy reading :) ... I hope..

Chapter Five - Angel

EPOV

"I can't sing, Edward," Her beautiful voice told me. Bella looked down, like she was embarrassed to say this; like I was going to chuck a hissy fit; like she was scared of me.

"I don't agree. I heard you singing in music class," And you have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. There was only so much I could tell her.

"What? You heard me sing?" She was angry, but I wasn't going to give up just yet.

"Yes, I did. I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard your class singing. I had a peek in the window and scanned the class to see if there were any familiar faces. I saw you and you were really into it. 'Girl from Ipanema', wasn't it? Just…give it a try. Please Bella, for me?" I looked at her and began to play the song again, hoping she would oblige to sing along.

"Living in my own world

didn't understand

that anything can happen

when you take a chance…" I looked at her. She had the most beautiful face I've ever seen. I sung the best I've ever sung so that she would be impressed and sing her best too, yet I was sure her worst wouldn't be awful anyway.

She closed her eyes, like she was about to fall asleep. I continued playing, hoping she would open her heart and let out her angelic voice once again.

"I never believed in

what I couldn't see

I never opened my heart…"

I smiled. I felt so lucky, to be singing with Bella, by myself, in a room with just us in it…and the piano. "Oohh." I added.

"To all the possibilities…ooh" Her stunning voice continued. For some reason, I felt like she was comforting me. It reminded me of my mother, when she used to sing to me before I went to sleep every night.

"I know…" Our voices blended together perfectly.

"That something has changed…" I did know that something had changed. Funny how the lyrics suited us!

"Never felt this way…" I smiled. Bella's voice was…too good for words.

"And right here today…" I couldn't get over her perfection.

"This could be the start

of something new

it feels so right to be here with you…ooh," Maybe, we were supposed to be Troy and Gabriella in High School Musical. Maybe they chose the wrong actors. I wondered what Bella was thinking.

"And now, looking in your eyes

I feel in my heart…" Wow. She really knew how to sing in a duet.

"Feel in my heart..." I added, after her.

We gazed at each other in the eyes. These eyes were something I would never get used to, they would take my breath away every time. But this was only the beginning, "The start of something new…" I stopped playing the piano and just continued looking at her. She was beautiful, a creature only a man with good imagination could dream of. Yet here she was, singing by my side, with the most gorgeous smile, the most gorgeous voice, the most gorgeous… EVERYTHING! I felt so special. Her eyes reminded me of my mother's, the way she used to look at me when she held me tightly in her arms. Bella's smile was so perfect, like a string of the whitest pearls you had ever seen.

Bella looked at me, thinking about something. My chest was heaving; I was trying to catch my breath after singing with the most beautiful person in the world. She noticed, looked down, and blushed a crimson red. What a magnificent angel she was. Even her blush was perfect! How nice it would be to rest my face on her cheeks while she blushed, I wondered. I would feel her blood slithering under her skin. I knew I shouldn't be thinking this, but I couldn't help it. She was stunning.

"Well, that was…" She couldn't exactly find the right word for it, so I thought I'd help her out.

"Extraordinary." I couldn't take my eyes off her. She smiled and looked at me.

"I was going to say something more like... corny... baby-ish...embarassing..."

"I thought you didn't like pop," I added sarcastically.

"I don't, really," She smiled.

"With one exception," I continued.

"Maybe," She smiled, "If you're lucky." I was already lucky, no doubt about that! My first day here was my lucky day, let alone every minute I spent with Bella.

"So, are you hungry now?" I asked her, deciding to change the subject.

"Absolutely," She answered enthusiastically, as she stood up and walked towards her bag.

"Where would you like to go?" I asked her.

"Maybe we could go somewhere near the K block," She suggested.

"Okay," I agreed as I followed her out the door. As long as we were going somewhere together, I was happy. "It's protected from the bad weather, isn't it?"

"Yes Edward," She laughed. The way she said my name was priceless. The typical Aussies would say my name differently, but Bella Swan used articulation when she said my name. Something I felt proud of.

I quickly followed her out into the corridor. It was packed with teenagers and the minute we walked out of the music room, they all turned and looked at us. I felt pressured. Why did they all have to stare like that? Sure, I knew they were all jealous of me, being with Bella all the time, but they really didn't need to go that far. I felt bad for lying to Bella earlier, but I didn't want to make her feel even lower. She was beautiful on the outside and on the inside, like I had told her earlier. It did get on my nerves though; all the people looking at us. Maybe I had something on my face that made them all stare the way they did? I didn't know and I probably never would.

Bella led me to the canteen first. There were people everywhere, yet they couldn't really go outside. She ordered a chicken sandwich, and I ordered a vegetable soup. We didn't talk to each other until we arrived at this little seat outside, against the K block. It was protected from the wind and rain. There was no one in sight, just the two of us. Bella sat down on the seat and opened up her sandwich. I sat beside her and placed my bag on the floor beside me.

"I forgot to ask, is this spot okay?" She asked me ever so kindly.

"Yes, it's perfect," I smiled at her. Every time I smiled, she blushed and looked away.

"So…" Bella tried to start the conversation.

"So?" I begged her to continue. She laughed and took a bite of her sandwich.

"What?" I asked, laughing along with her. It was so easy to have fun with Bella. She shook her head and continued munching. "You look like a chipmunk," I added. She punched me playfully on the shoulder as she continued laughing with her mouth full. I pulled the lid off my soup cup and took a sip of the warm drink. It made its way down my throat and made me shiver from the warmth.

"You like a dog that's just had a bath," Bella laughed. Wow, Bella just paid me out!

"Thanks, it was nice meeting you," I jokingly added as I acted as if I was going to walk away. Bella looked at me.

"I didn't mean it like that," She apologetically explained.

"I know," I said, cheekily.

"Good," Bella nodded. She didn't want me to leave; that was obvious. But I still didn't understand what she meant by the fact that I looked like a dog that's just had a bath.

"How do I look like a wet dog?" I asked.

"You shivered and your hair is wet," Bella giggled. She had the sweetest giggle I had ever heard. I brushed my hair with my fingers; it was wet. I shook the water out of my hair.

"Is that better?" I asked her.

"It was good before, but it's just as nice like that," She replied honestly and looked away. Why did she have to be so perfect? I was so jealous of her beauty. Bella continued eating her sandwich and I continued drinking my soup. The silence that surrounded us was peaceful; I could think…of the goddess sitting beside me. How could I tell Bella her voice was angelic? Would she argue? Would she walk away? Would that infectious blush take over her face again? There was only one way to find out.

"Bella, I just have to let you know this…" I began, but was rudely interrupted…

"What? My voice is like sandpaper?" She turned to look at me. She was hurt, only she was hurting herself.

Damn. Why was she always so stubborn? "No. Actually I was going to say the complete opposite. You've got a beautiful voice," I smiled and she smiled back. I was right; the blush came back once again.

BPOV

"Bella, I just have to let you know this…" I knew what he was going to say, so I thought I'd say it so that he wouldn't feel bad saying it himself.

"What? My voice is like sandpaper?" I looked at him. His stunning eyes held mine for a second.

"No. Actually I was going to say the complete opposite. You've got a beautiful voice," I couldn't believe it. Here was Edward Cullen complimenting the girl with the worst voice in the universe. This wasn't right. Before I had time to argue back, he smiled the one-and-only crooked smile and I just blushed. Why did I have to make it so obvious?

My next class was French. I liked French, yet my teacher was very hard to understand. He was appalling at speaking English and you could only understand what he was trying to say half of the time we spent talking to him. Like most of my other classes, I was 'number one loner' in French; I sat by myself, did group assignments alone, etc.

The textbook in front of me looked like a jumble of words put together. I couldn't be bothered reading it, and I nearly fell asleep… twice. Why did time have to pass so slowly when I wasn't spending it with Edward? It was only the Cullen family's second day today, yet we seemed so close already. It was very bizarre, like a fairytale. They were very nice, and they felt like we've been friends for years. My mum always said that that's what best friends felt like; when you first meet, it feels like you've been friends for years already. Maybe Edward and I would become best friends. A part of me wished for that, yet the other part dreaded it.

"Bella? Give us the answer please," Mr Faucout interrupted my dreams. I looked up at him. The class was dead silent.

"Um, pardon?" I looked around at my classmates. They were all staring at me.

"Tu sais pas?" Mr Faucout asked me in French.

"Non. Sorry," I felt like a moron.

"Not inpest," Mr Faucout raised his eyebrows and frowned. I knew he meant he was not impressed.

"Sorry, monsieur," I didn't know what else to say.

"Hmm," He looked at me and quickly moved onto something else. I put my face in my hands. A ball hit me softly in the shoulder. I looked to the ground, in search of the object. There it was; a paper ball, about ten centimetres away from my right foot. It was a note, I was sure of that. I didn't want to be caught retrieving it so I just left it there, alone on the carpet floor. Mr Faucout was still going on about something, so I thought I'd better pay attention, in case he asked me another doomed question.

Another paper ball landed on the right of my desk. I secretly inched my fingers toward the ball and opened it up. It read:

Thinking of Cullen, weren't you Bella? :)

Luv Angel

I knew instantly that this was from Angelina Gold; her handwriting, her jealousy and she always signed 'Angel'. I turned around to look at her. She always sat at the back of the classroom. I gave her a death stare and aimed the note for the rubbish bin. Knowing me, my shot would most likely miss. As per usual, it did, and I found myself in after school detention with Mr Faucout.

"How many more lines, Monsieur Faucout?" I asked him, eyeing my punishment. The piece of paper was covered in my rushed handwriting.

"That's it, Bella," Mr Faucout smiled at me. "I was dishapointment today Bella. You good student, do not spend time thinking 'bout boys," He told me pointing his finger in my face.

"How do you know that's what I was thinking about?" What was this? How could he judge me like that? He reminded me of Charlie.

"I read note," He told me. He was proud, and I was shocked. So what, he picked the note off the floor and read it? What an…

"You go home, Bella," Mr Faucout told me. I looked at my watch: 3.30pm. Half an hour after school finished. This was ridiculous.

"I think I will," I mumbled under my breath. I grabbed my skateboard and turned to walk away.

"Bella, you forgot something…or do you want detention tomorrow too?" Mr Faucout asked me from behind. He was cheeky and I felt like ripping his head off. But I couldn't do that.

"Au revoir," I responded sarcastically, without looking back. I jumped on my skateboard that Jacob had dropped off earlier and skated away.

The rain was still drizzling lightly as I made my way home. I skated to the red diner situated on the main road. 'Chickadees' was where all the cool kids on the block hung out. Of course, I was always the odd one out, but I didn't care. My aunt used to own it, but now, some other people ran it. They still gave me discounts, as I was a regular.

I ordered a bucket of chips with gravy and a tea: weird combination. I sat on the couch while I waited for my afternoon tea to arrive. I looked out the window beside me. The rain was still drizzling now, but there was a crowd of teenagers walking towards the entrance. There was a couple, surrounded by television cameramen and fans holding posters. The couple walked in the door of 'Chickadees' and the crowd followed.

"Hey! Get out!" Meggy, the owner of 'Chickadees' shooed away the crowd. The couple looked around for a place to sit. The male was tall, and very muscular. He was wearing a singlet to show his biceps. Show off, I thought. His girlfriend was blonde and stunning. She could have been a model for all I knew. She wore a red cardigan and a pair of jeans. Designer clothes, I thought. I looked down to see what type of shoes she was wearing. High heels. What a silly thing to wear in the rain. They must have been around 18 years old, both of them. But what made the crowd and the reporters go after them, I wondered. What was so special about them? The guy looked at all the individual tables and then laid his eyes on me.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" He asked me. He had quite a deep voice.

"No," I replied. He sat down on the couch opposite me and pulled his girlfriend by the hand to sit by his side. She looked at me in disgust and continued to talk to him. I pulled out my mp3 player out of my pocket and turned it up, so that I wouldn't hear their conversation.

"Chips with gravy and a tea?" Meggy asked me. She was standing next to the table, my order in her arms. I paused the song.

"Right here, thanks Meggy," I looked up at her and she placed my order in front of me.

"Charlie'd better be feeding you good food, Bella. You come here too often," She told me. She sounded so much like my mum, the mum I didn't have. The mum that died in a car crash six years ago.

"Meggy, I'm the one who's feeding Charlie," I explained.

"Well, I hope its good food you're making. Nice and healthy for your young body," She said as she turned to walk away.

I looked up at the couple sitting in front of me. The girl was looking at me, her mouth wide open in shock, and the male just sat there, looking out the window.

"How can you eat so many calories?" She asked me. She had a slight British accent.

"I don't really count how many calories I eat. I just eat the foods I like to eat," I told her, her shocked look wanted to make me burst out laughing.

"Honey, can we go elsewhere?" She turned to her boyfriend.

"Why? What's wrong with here?" He asked her.

"I can't stand looking at that pile of calories in front of that girl. It's making me feel sick," She stroked his muscly arm and he looked at me.

"Hey, chick, can I have a chip?" He asked me, a smile on his face.

"Are you kidding?" I looked at him. He was just joking, right?

"What are you doing? What happened to your diet?" His girlfriend asked him.

"Oh, yeah. Nearly forgot about that," He said, looking away from the bowl of chips in front of me. I picked up my mp3 player from my hand and pressed play. I'd had enough of their silly talk. I quickly shovelled down a few chips and drunk my tea. I got up, pulled my favourite grey hoodie cardigan out of my bag, and put it on over my school uniform.

"Oh, okay. See you later, chick," The guy said. I pushed the bowl with the remainder of chips across the table towards him.

"Geez, thanks!" He smiled up at me and his girlfriend gave me the death stare. I turned and walked away.

"See you Bella! Say hi to Jacob for me!" Susan, one of the waitresses from 'Chickadees', said as I headed towards the door. She was friendly, and fond of Jacob. But that didn't bother me, as Susan and I were good friends.

"I will!" I yelled back as I walked out into the rain. I jumped on my skateboard and skated home. I didn't mind skating home in the rain. The only thing that bothered me was when cars would drive in a puddle too close to the gutter that I was skating beside, and the water would just spray onto me.

Charlies' cruiser wasn't parked in the driveway, yet Jacob's car was. Diesel came to greet me at the door when I arrived at home. I was dripping wet, and I could hear Jacob on the phone. I took my soaking shoes off and walked towards the stairs.

"Why don't we go to the beach in Manly?" Jacob asked the person on the other end. "Yeah…okay…I'll come and pick you up at nine thirty on Saturday," He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled something down. "Okay, see you then Jasper," He said before hanging up.

"So, you're going to Manly with Jasper on Saturday. At nine thirty am," I said, getting the info my head.

"Is that all right, Bella?" Jacob asked me. He was sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Yeah, I guess. I was wondering if I could come with you."

He turned to look at me. "You, want to go to the beach?" He asked, surprised.

"No, I was wondering if you could drive me into the city on your way."

"What are you going to do in the city?"

"Shop."

"Shop? You? Shop?"

"Yes, Jacob. I haven't been shopping alone for a while."

"And what are you going shopping for?"

"New clothes, Christmas presents…"

"Okay."

"So, you'll take me into the city?"

"Yes."

"Thank-you Jacob!"

"It's okay Bella. As long as you get me a Christmas present."

"Have I ever forgotten you?"

"No…I don't think so…"

"By the way, your fan club says hi."

"You mean Susan?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Welcome," I said as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me, dumped my bag on the floor and plugged my iPod into its speakers. I listened to a jazz number, while changing into a fresh, dry pair of clothes. I was singing along to a song when I heard a tap on the door.

"Come in!" I yelled, turning my music down. It was Jacob. What did he want now?

"Bella, Dad just called. He's on his way home and he was wondering if you wanted to eat Chinese for dinner." Jacob had his hand on the doorknob and he was leaning on the inside of the doorway.

Chinese? That sounded nice! "Yes please!"

"And I forgot to tell you before; Josephine called while you were at school. She wants you to call her back."

"What was it regarding?"

"Lunch time?"

"Oh, right." She wanted to know how I spent my lunchtime. Maybe she had something to tell me about Jonathan, too.

"Okay, that's all," said Jacob as he turned to walk out. I followed him out the room and down the stairs. Jacob walked back to the couch and I walked to get the telephone. I dialled Josephine's number and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" It was Josie's mum Heather.

"Hi Heather, it's Bella," I spoke to Heather like I would to my own mother. She and I were pretty close, as Josephine and I were like sisters.

"Bella! How have you been? I haven't spoken to you for a while! So what's cooking, good looking?" She asked me. Heather always made me laugh. She was a bubbly woman with lots of energy and a loving personality.

"Nothing much, actually. Mr Faucout gave me a detention this afternoon so I had to stay at school until 3.30. Then I had to skate home, in the rain."

"That's not very good! Wasn't Jacob there to pick you up?"

"Jacob was here sitting on the couch watching TV. He couldn't be bothered to get off his ass to come and pick me up," I said loudly so that Jacob would hear.

"Oh Bella. Anyway, you're ringing to talk to Josie, aren't you? Well, she's here beside me waiting for the phone. I'll pass you onto her."

"Okay, thanks Heather. Speak to you soon."

"Yes, Bella. Love you!" She said before passing the phone to Josie.

"Ok, so what happened? Tell me everything!" Josie exclaimed. I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't talk about Edward in front of Jacob.

"Oh, right. Well, we have to do page three hundred and eighty-one to page three hundred and eighty-four; letters a, b, c and f for every question." I made up as I walked up the stairs and into my room.

"What are you talking about?" A confused Josie asked me.

"Yeah, we have to do that too. Thanks for reminding me," I continued as I shut my bedroom door behind me.

"Bella? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh. Was Jacob or Charlie listening?"

"Yes."

"Right!"

"Can I tell you tomorrow? It feels like Jacob's behind the door eavesdropping."

"Sure! I'll meet you at the library at eight am, alone."

"I'll be there. Alone."

"Okay. Thanks for the homework," She added sarcastically.

"You're welcome! Speak to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." I pressed the little phone button to end the call. I walked of my room, down the stairs and put the phone back into its recharger. I walked towards Jacob. He was watching Australian Idol.

"I like that dude, he's cool. He should win," He said as a guy was singing on stage. The audience went wild once he'd finished. "You got any homework?" He looked up at me.

"That's something Charlie would ask, not you."

Jacob just shrugged and went back to watching the loud commercials. I took the opportunity to go and have my shower.

The hot water ran down my face. It made me relax, and calm down. My heart was still beating quickly as the memory of lunchtime filled my mind. The water crept down my shoulders and onto my body. I lathered the shampoo in my hair, rinsed it out and hopped out of the shower. Sometimes, I could spend twelve minutes in the shower just absorbing all of its warmth and the ability to calm me down. But today was no day to dawdle; I had lots of things to do and no time to waste.

I quickly got changed into a pair of shorts and a light T-shirt. My body still felt hot from the shower. My schoolbag was lying on the floor, so I decided to start my boring afternoon with French homework. The time seemed to go so slowly when it wasn't spent with Edward. Why did I keep going back to Edward? Ok, he was perfect. And he was beautiful. He was what every teenage girl dreamed about at the moment - every teenage girl excluding me. I hadn't caught the Edward dream bug yet - touch wood. But somehow, I knew that I probably wouldn't last for long.

I stood up on my toes and reached for my mums' legendary cooking book. I remember the time when I was ten and found her writing in the cookbook secretly. I walked through the door, unexpectedly, and she quickly tried to hide the book. I insisted she showed me what she was working on.

"Bella, I will give it to you for Christmas," she told me.

"But it won't be a surprise! Please just show me now," I begged. She scooped me up in her warm arms and took me to the living room. She laid me on the couch carefully and sat beside me.

"This is a book of the recipes that were given to me by my mother and her mother. I will give it to you for Christmas," She explained.

"Why are you giving it to me?" I asked her, surprised.

"So that you can keep it. You can pass it down to your kids, when you're older," She explained. She kissed my forehead and walked back into the kitchen, the recipe book in her hand.

The Christmas came, but mum wasn't there to give me the recipe book - it lay still underneath the Christmas tree. Suddenly, this cookbook meant so much to me. I was not really into cooking, but the cookbook was like a job that mum gave me before she was killed.

A job that I would continue until the day I left.

Until I left Charlie.

I flipped through the first few pages, until I got to the dessert section. Fudge Pudding- that sounded nice. I reached into the cupboard and grabbed the flour, cocoa powder and vanilla essence. The recipe was quite easy and I plugged myself into my iPod as I went. I was about to put the pudding into the oven, when Jacob suddenly got off the couch and rushed to the door.

"Dad's home!" He yelled. I pulled my earplugs out of my ears and began to set the table.

"Hi Bells," Charlie walked into the door in his officer uniform. He was holding a plastic bag that contained the Chinese takeaway that Jacob was after.

"Let me take care of that, Chief Swan," Jacob mocked, helping Charlie with the bag of food.

"It's okay, son. Go and help Bells set the table," Charlie winked at me. I smiled in return.

Jacob looked at me and started running in my direction. He grabbed the bowls from my hands and placed them on the table.

"How was your day, Bella?" Charlie asked me as he helped to set the table also.

"Good…" I said remembering the time I spent with Edward, "and bad," I added, the note that Angelina threw at me made me want to rip her head off. Usually, I was never this violent. But I just felt uncomfortable the way I was picked at.

"Like usual," He mumbled under his breath.

I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him all about Edward; the way he had complimented me on my hot chocolate, his beautiful eyes looking deeply into mine, his angelic voice when he sung with me, the time we sat down on the bench outside the K block…everything. But some things were just better left unsaid. He would probably find out in the long run, and I'd probably end up telling him one day.

By mistake.

Or not.