Ahhh my computer was beyond difficult today! First it disconnected from the internet when I was going to write this, and then I didn't because I got frustrated, and then it did work…anyways, just a few notes:

1-Ann Darrow is in King Kong; she's the blonde chick that gets held by King Kong on the Empire State Building-I wikipedia-ed that, since I haven't seen the movie myself…

2- I lalalala-LOVE everyone's reviews. Each one makes me smile each time I see I have a new notification of one in my inbox. Love you guys!

When I arrived in school the next morning, I was immediately ambushed by Edward Cullen.

"So. What did he say?" Edward said, inspecting his nails for any dirt. That wasn't the only place he was trying to find dirt from either apparently. He wanted information on Jake's reaction. Unfortunately for him, it was much different than he thought.

"Actually, he told me the truth about imprints. The WHOLE truth. Like the fact that it doesn't even occur until a werewolf is sixteen or older." I crossed my arms smugly. Edward raised an eyebrow in slight shock.

"Oh really? Hm. We haven't had that piece of information." He looked at me. "Obviously, since it's difficult and frustrating to associate with werewolves, we don't exactly exchange words often. Did he tell you anything else?" He said with a pointed glance.

"Actually, yes. He told me that you can read minds. I presume this is correct?" Edward rubbed his hands together at this.

"Well, he was somewhat right. I can read everyone's minds. Except for one particular individual's." I looked up at him snidely.

"And who would that be?"

"Why, it's you Bella." My eyes widened slightly, but I didn't move my facial expression.

"Really now?" I asked in disbelief. "And why could that be?" He hesitated before answering.

"Quite frankly, I'm not sure. This has never happened to me, not in the time that I've been a vampire. I can read anyone's mind for miles around, except for one of the few people whose minds I actually do want to know." I rolled my eyes.

"You always want what you can't have." I said off-handedly

"You have no idea." He muttered darkly. I looked at him "Never mind. Don't we need to be going to our first period classes? Unless, you want to skip with me again." I glared slightly.

"No thank you." I said frostily. "I'm quite content." He smirked that obnoxious crooked grin.

"Whatever you say." He then turned around and began walking off to wherever his first period class was, but before he was out of my line of sight, he turned around and shot me a wink. I could feel the blood rising to my face. Who did this guy think he was?!

The rest of the day I resolved to ignore Edward Cullen. He was more annoying than I could handle, and releasing frustration for him by playing badminton in Gym was going to get old quickly. And I was definitely not going to have Jake talk to him. The last thing I needed was a brawl between mythical creatures.

If Jess and Angela noticed my slightly angry behavior that was caused by irritation for him, they didn't say a word. At lunch of course, Jess was infatuated with Mike and vice versa. So they were off in their little world. Angela was working on stuff for the Halloween dance, so she was in another universe completely. I just stared down at my food, and was surprised by a small tap on the shoulder. I whirled around, half expecting Edward, and to my surprise, I found Alice.

"Hi Bella." She said lightly. "Can I…talk to you for a sec?" She seemed a little uneasy. I glanced at her usual table. Rosalie and Emmett were gazing adoringly into each other's eyes, and Jasper was attempting to trap Edward in conversation, but Jasper couldn't distract the burning glare he was shooting toward Alice. However, she paid it no mind.

"Um, sure…do you want to go somewhere else?" She nodded, and went off in a random direction. We rounded corners until we finally reached the one bathroom that no girl used, simply because it was hard to get to. "What do you want to talk about Alice?" I had no clue why she was bringing me here, or whatever it was she wanted to talk about.

"Okay," She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. "He's beyond pissed about me even talking to you about this." I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Edward. He doesn't take my 'meddling' well." She snorted at the word 'meddling'. "Bella, I just wanted to let you know that Edward…well…he gets very protective of people he cares about. And, he…" her voice trailed off, and her head dropped. She seemed a little too embarrassed to continue, so I tried guessing.

"He what? He likes to annoy me? He finds my reactions funny?" She shook her head. "Then what? He likes me?" I said sarcastically.

"Yes." She said in a quiet tone, still looking at the ground. "He really does. He's fascinated by you. The thing is, Bella, I have never seen Edward like this. He's like a brother to me, and I've known him for decades. He's constantly worrying about you whenever you're with Jacob. He's constantly hunting so he won't be a danger to you if he gets the courage to talk to you one day. He's also trying to talk to you by getting advice from Emmett." She rolled her eyes at this one, "Emmett of all people is not the one to consult about talking to girls. It doesn't suit Edward; it just makes him seem like an arrogant jerk." Sounded about right. "Not that he can't be at times, but when people get to see the real Edward, he's not like that at all." She looked into my eyes. "Bella, he honestly cares about you. So can you at least try and be friends with him? For me? Because he doesn't have anyone outside of this family he can talk to. And for some reason, he really feels like he can with you." I took this all into consideration before I answered her.

Edward was alone, even if he did have his family. I could imagine he didn't want to constantly go to his father about his school life. Jasper had a completely different personality as did Emmett. Rosalie was on another planet, where personalities were concerned. Alice was the only one who was close to him in that sense. And he probably would have liked someone else to talk to as well.

"I can try to be his friend." I said grudgingly. "But I am telling you right now, there is no way on this Earth that Jake is going to take this well. Not in the least." I shook my head, imagining what was going to happen when I told Jake about this. Alice bounced up and down excitedly.

"Really Bella? That's great! And you and I can get closer too! It's been too long since I had a fresh gal pal. Rose is good, but she's usually tied up with Emmett." Alice clapped excitedly. I shook my head at her and smiled. She was a little ridiculous, but it was totally her. "And don't worry, if Edward says anything out of line, you can come to me right away! I'll straighten him out." I smiled.

"All right, all right. I'll sit with you guys at lunch for the time being, if that's okay?" she nodded eagerly. "I don't want to rush a friendship when he irritates me with every other word that comes out of his mouth." She frowned slightly at that.

"You know, that's honestly not him. He's not really used to dealing with girls that he doesn't think of in a family sense. And Emmett is one of the worst people to take advice from when it comes to with handling girls in a friendly matter. He'll get better in time though." I nodded.

"I hope so."

"So…we're going back now?" She twirled delicately. I nodded, laughing gently. She rushed forward and gave me a hug.

"Thank you so much Bella! You will not regret this!!" I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever you say Alice." We made our way back to the table. Edward's expression was annoyed, a little happy, and a bit embarrassed.

"That was unnecessary." He said to her as she sat down next to Jasper. She stuck her tongue out and promptly ignored him. I laughed gently. A smile tugged at the ends of Jasper and Edward's mouths too. Alice quickly whispered something in Edward's ear, and his expression got a bit more embarrassed. I sent her a quizzical look, but she just whispered to me,

"Just getting him to drop the obnoxious jerk act. And warning him not to take advice from Emmett in that field ever again." I nodded my head in comprehension.

Alice then steered us into conversation about the upcoming Halloween dance. She apparently was going as the Bride of Frankenstein, and Jasper was going as Frankenstein's monster. I tried not to roll my eyes at that. She'd need a wig in order to achieve the full effect, but I was sure she could manage. Rose piped in about how she and Emmett were being Ann Darrow and King Kong. I found that funny. Rosalie would of course get to show off skin while Emmett showed brawn. Alice asked me what I was being, and I meagerly offered my being a pirate. She oohed and ahhed and offered to lend me clothes. I didn't decline, but I wasn't sure I'd take her up on her offer. When she turned to Edward to ask him about his costume, he wouldn't let a single detail or hint slip. She pouted as soon as the bell rang. He rustled her hair, and he and I walked off to Biology.

"So you're being a pirate?" he asked, a little more gently than he would have normally. I clutched my book bag to my side a bit tighter.

"Yeah." I said, squirming slightly. "I didn't want to do a couple costume, and it was the best I could come up with."

"I think it's actually quite good." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No really, it is. Just imagine. Captain Swan, mistress of the seven seas." I thought about it.

"I could get used to that." He laughed.

"Of course you could." Whatever Alice had said to him, it had worked. He had been more sociable and less annoying. The rest of Biology was actually fun. I was able to somewhat enjoy it, since my lab partner wasn't irritating me, and we actually exchanged a few jokes. I went off to Gym less frustrated, and I was worse in badminton. But as I left the Gym and went to the parking lot, I immediately started driving to La Push. I had a feeling Jake would want to know about the new friendship with me and the Cullens as soon as possible. Plus, keeping it a secret would be disastrous. But not having a friendship could have been even worse. If the current tensions between the two continued to escalate, I couldn't imagine what would happen. The town could have been thrown into a bit of chaos, of that much I was sure. I drove straight to Jake's house, since school was already over for him. I knocked on the door.

"Hello?" He said answering the door. Then he saw me and as usual, picked me up in his arms. "Bells!" He nuzzled my neck. "Two days in a row I get to see you right after school. I like this schedule." I smiled and kissed him gently

"Me too. But I had a feeling you might want to know something that happened today." He sniffed me.

"Anything to do with the Cullens?" I grimaced.

"Do I stink to you or something? Because I honestly don't smell anything unpleasant."

"No, they just have a very irritating, strong scent that hurts my superior sense of smell. But anyways. You wanted to tell me something?" He brought me inside, shutting the door with his foot, and sat down on the couch with me in his lap. I immediately curled up, letting him hold me, and I gently started playing with his hair.

"Alice Cullen talked to me today about being friends with the Cullens, and somewhat specifically Edward." His eyes widened slightly.

"Bella…" he started, but I cut him off

"Not done. I think this could be good Jake. I think that it could possibly save you guys from killing each other." He rolled his eyes. "You know it could definitely happen, so don't act like it wouldn't," I said teasing him lightly. "And also, I think he really needs someone outside of his family to talk to." Now came the part where Jake wasn't going to like it.

"He needs someone outside of his family to talk to? Honestly Bella, the guy has six people in his family; I think he could find someone. Why does he want to talk to just you?" I furrowed my brow at that slightly, but I came up with an answer.

"Well, do you tell Billy everything?" He shook his head. "Well, that's probably part of it. Also, if only six people in a tightly knit group knew about a secret, wouldn't you be thrilled to have someone outside of the circle who knew the secret, who you could talk to." Jake's expression softened slightly.

"I suppose that that makes sense. I didn't really think of it from that standpoint." I smiled.

"Of course you didn't. I'm the smart one here, remember?" I said, teasing and leaning in for another kiss. And with that, the discussion was over. Jake had taken it better than I had expected. We spent the rest of the night just watching TV and snuggling, and then cooking dinner when Charlie realized I was over here. Then he and Billy watched the game while me and Jake cooked, as usual.

Even though Jake had taken me being friends with the Cullens pretty well, it didn't stop him from holding me to his chest, kissing the top of my head, and whispering,

"Be careful Bells. I know you want to be friends and help them, but you also have to be safe, okay?" I looked up at him after he said that.

"I know Jake. I promise, I'll be extra careful. Thank you for understanding it." He smiled.

"Well I may not be thrilled about it, but if it makes you happy…then I guess it makes me happy." I smiled and burrowed deeper into the hug we were already in.

"Because you love me." I said smiling up at him.

"Because I love you," he said, smiling down at me.

"I love you Jake."

"Love you too Bells. Always have. Always will." I smiled, and leaned up for another kiss. Then of course, Charlie announced he was hungry, and we quickly brought the food in and had dinner together. As we left, Jake and I exchanged our normal parting kiss, and then Charlie and I left to go back home. When I got home, I finished what homework I had, showered, and went to bed, thinking about my Jacob, and enjoying the sweet dreams that thinking about him brought me.