"Did you meet any nice kids?"

"Yeah."

"Made any friends?"

"No."

"Like any of your teachers?"

"No."

"Have you got any homework."

"Yeah."

Bella just wouldn't stop the questions. Finally, I used the excuse of homework and escaped up to my room.

"Jesus…" I muttered, opening my door and sitting on my bed. I laid back, my hair fanning up and my hands lying over my hips.

I looked at the boring ceiling and sighed heavily, closing my eyes and letting the day replay in my head. But it stopped on Tyler.

His dark strands of hair framing over his eyes in that sexy kind of way, his bright blue eyes capturing you everytime you looked at them. His lean body, tall and lanky, but still toned. Was that even possible in a guy? I felt funny. I mean… he wasn't perfect looking. His eyes were small and his nose too big, large freckles spotting his face unevenly… but damn, he was close to.

My smiled faded.

Edward was the only perfect male I'd ever seen. So perfect, I hated him.

Was that possible?

Tyler… He was taller than me, bands on his wrists, converse…

"Who is he?"

My eyes snapped open and I sat up, looking around to see Alice. She grinned, arms folded, a knowing expression on her whole posture.

"No one." I said quietly. He wasn't anybody important. He was Tyler. Just Tyler. Just a boy.

"Tell me about him," Alice said, closing the door and wondering in. She sat on the bed and touched my leg. "I could help."

I made a face and then looked at her eyes. I could tell that she was sinsere. She was also very serious. She wanted to help.

"His name is Tyler."

Alice grinned.

"Um… I've only met him twice…" I launched into a lecture on every detail I'd taken in of the boy. Alice was giggling by the end and petted my hair.

"You need to find yourself some girlfriends, River." Alice smiled. "But until then… let me help."

She skipped out of the room and then came back with a bunch of… magazines? I frowned. "What are those for?"

"Everything about guys are in these magazines… Trust me," She giggled. "Actually, no, a lot of it is a lie… but they're fun to read."

Alice and I lay on my bed, poking at magazines and giggling, snickering and making comments. For once, I actually laughed for real. I was genuinely happy.

"So… I have to look… available… but not desperate?" I frowned, looking down at myself. "How the hell do I do that? Write the words on a shirt and wear it everywhere?"

Alice erupted into giggles. "No, silly! It means you have to casually flirt, but not make it obvious that you're looking to hook up with him."

"Otherwise it'll scare him off?" I asked.

"Not all boys run at the sound of a girls flirty laugh," Alice admitted, smiling. "But if you're over-baring… well…" She made a face, The Sad Truth face. "It never ends well."

"Alright… so casually flirt, but don't overdo it. Make yourself available… but don't act desperate. Jesus… why not just bring out a Flirting For Dummies?"

"I could get my hands on one, I'm sure." Alice grinned.

She kicked the magazines off the bed and turned to sit opposite to me. She grabbed my shoulders. "Okay, look… The keys here are… Attitude; keep it, but don't flaunt it. If he says something and you disagree, say so. Guys never like a follower. However if he says he likes the way your hair is that day, don't reject the compliment. Take it and cherish it. Don't show a guy your mood swings. They hate it." She smirked. "Second is Humor. This is one of the most important ingredients for a relationship. You need to be able to make him laugh; otherwise the clock will seem to go slower than ever."

I nodded, taking this in.

"Believability. Make sure you believe that you're worth something, if you think you're failing miserably.. most chances are that you are making yourself. It's all about confidence really."

"Great…" I grumbled.

Alice giggled, "Next… Assertiveness. You need to grab a hold of the steering wheel here and make sure you stay on the road. Guys love a girl who will take the plunge and put themselves out there. It shows they aren't wimps." Alice smiled. "If you make a move, then he is sure to move next."

"And if I can't even look at him?"

"You have to, girl." Alice grinned. "Topics; when it comes to conversation, it's very important to be on top of what you're talking about. Find out about the things he likes and discuss them. He's sure to find a girl with the same interests attractive."

"What if he likes boxing or something? I can't stand it."

"Well his whole life wouldn't be based on it, right? I'm sure he likes other things."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Next… Eye contact. Very important matter. You don't want to stare the poor guy down and make him sweat, you're not having a staring competition. But… if you don't look at him at all.. then there's no show of your attraction. If he looks, you either glance…" Alice demonstrated, "Or you show yourself off, laugh perhaps… pretend to act normal and like you don't even know he's there. But don't ignore him."

"My brain hurts…" I laughed, "What's next?"

"Let down your hair," Alice said with motion. "You're allowed to act goofy. You're allowed to act a little strange. Just be yourself. Show him the real you and not somebody you have to put on. Let down your guard. Show a little vulnerability."

My jaw tensed; show vulnerability? Was she crazy?

"The last thing; is smile. Smile as much as possible, a boy loves it when he makes a girl smile. It boosts their self esteem."

"No obnoxious laughs, right?" I asked.

"Right." Alice nodded and looked at the clock, "Oh wow. It's almost midnight! You've got school tomorrow."

"And a whole lot to remember," I said quietly.

Alice smiled and rubbed my arm, "Sleep tight. Don't forget to give me feedback!" She pointed after she got up to leave the room.

I sighed and got into my PJ's and climbed into bed.

Attitude…

Believability..

Assertiveness..

Topics…

Eye contact…

Let down your hair..

Smile…

I groaned; my dreams filled with the words running over and over in my head. I woke up to the sound of 'Vulnerable' pounding over and over in my head to the beat of my alarm clock buzzing from my phone.

I yawned and got up.

This morning I showered and put bunches of my hair up, pinning it. It was a loud hair style, completed with a blue head band keeping the front part flat as opposed to the fluffy hair at the back.

I pulled on some blue shorts with black stockings with a long sleeved shirt and vest.

Emmett made me pancakes and we talked about the school football team. I laughed when he told me about the time he'd broken a boy named Mike Newton's nose.

I went to school with a smile on my face. Until fourth period.

I was in History lesson, grabbing out my book and then looking across to see Tyler with a friend, clashing hands with him and sitting down.

I groaned, rolling my eyes and turned away. I looked over just as a girl sat down next to me.

She was tall and thin, not particularly curvy, wearing ripped stockings and a just as ratty home-made-looking dress, the colors all types of black and browns. Her hair was a tame orange, not bright, and in small waves down to the small of her back. There were circles under her dull light green eyes.

Her lips were puffy and she smiled, "Hi."

"Hello," I offered, blinking at her.

She looked down, her cheeks reddening. She then glanced back up at me, "My name is Briunka." She said softly. "It's weird, I know…"

"No, it's not." I smiled. "My name's River."

Her eyes widened, "You have an unusual name too!"

I giggled lowly.

"Oh! I mean… it's a pretty name! It's not unusual… I just meant that I've never met anybody called River before." Briunka said quickly.

I shook my head, "S'okay. I've never heard anybody called it either. I kind of don't like that I can't really shorten it, though."

"Why do you want to shorten it?" Briunka asked. "It's pretty the way it is!"

"I dunno," I shrugged, looking at the front to check if the teacher was there. Nope. I looked back at the girl. "Just think it'd be cool."

"My name is kind of hard to shorten too," She smiled, showing teeth that had thin wire over them. She had a plate. "I go for Bree, but my mother says that I shouldn't try to change my name and that she named me after a rare flower."

I frowned at her and she shrugged.

"Yeah, I don't actually believe there's such a flower."

"I don't think there is," I said.

She smiled and shrugged again, "Oh well! At least one of us has a good name."

I opened my mouth to argue that hers was perfectly fine when the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class, sorry for my being late…"

I looked at Briunka and smiled, she returned it and we both turned to look at the front of the class.

When the bell rang, I had totally forgotten about Tyler until Briunka knocked all her books off her table at his feet. He stopped and bent down, helping her with picking them up.

I felt a slight pang of jealously. Briunka snatched her books up from him and hugged them tightly to her chest. She looked at me and I realized that she was waiting for me.

I jerked in response, I wasn't used to making friends so fast. I'd only had the one or two back home, soon after the incident at the park I'd lost them all.

I rushed out past Tyler, only glancing up at him, smiling and letting my arm graze his. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

"What class have you got now?" Briunka asked excitedly, her dull green eyes now a vibrant shade. "I have art lesson. Do you take art?"

"Yeah, I do. But I'm not very good at it." I pulled my lips to the side, looking at my schedule. "I have art with Miss. Lilith."

"Oh! She's my teacher!" Briunka squeaked and then grabbed my hand. "I'll take you! I hope you don't mind?"

"No, not at all." I smiled at the girl, she wasn't the prettiest of girls around and she wasn't the most sane, but for some reason, I found myself not caring as she dragged me to the art building.

For I had touched Tyler's arm.

I was completely happy.