OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

The floor is cold against my cheek. My eyes are crusty around the edges and it feels like I'm opening a sunken treasure chest that has been sealed for ages beneath the sea, not my eyelids. I wipe the little pool of drool from my dried lips. I'm so thirsty. It feels like I haven't drank or eaten anything for months.

"OOoooh. It feels like I've been hibernating," I moan as I sit up. The blanket slides away and I shiver. Why is it so cold?

I pull my blanket up around me, and it reminds me a bit of Theoden and his kingly chinchilla robe. I shuffle over to the window, still picking little dried crusts from around my eyes. I pause as I stare out the window.

This can't be right…

I don't see anything, just whiteness. I scratch my head. Then I realize what it is I'm staring at.

"S-snow?"

My body moves on its own. It runs over to the calendar hanging lifelessly on Bella's wall.

"J-JANUARY?! This can't be right. It's not possible!"

I run downstairs, but halfway down trip over the blanket robe and tumble the rest of the way down.

"Ouch." I squeak.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Charlie asks, suddenly appearing. I nod.

"I'm okay."

"What are you doing? I haven't seen you get up this early since September!"

"What? What month is it?" I ask. Charlie looks concerned.

"It's January."

"January! I've been asleep since September?!" I ask. Then I figure it out. It's like that time I was in Phantom of the Opera and the months flashed by. I groan and bury my head in the blankets.

"Bella, I know this Edward thing has been hard for you…" Charlie says.

"It's not Edward!" I explain. "I've gotten past that, trust me."

"Really?" Charlie asks, not looking convinced.

"I can't believe this happened." I grumbled. Stupid book. Every time I try to do something for myself, it manages to mess me up. I'll just have to try harder. I gather the blanket and stand up.

"Time to go to school." I say. "See ya later!"

By the time I get to school, I decide that what I need to do is improve relations with Bella's "friends". What's going to be hard about this is that Bella isolated everyone before Edward even left! They've always been nice to her but she's just been cold and distant in return. But I'm going to change.

This is my attitude when I stride into the cafeteria.

"Hey!" I say, happily. Everyone at the table looks scared at my display of emotion.

"Bella?" Jessica asks.

"Yep." I say with a smile.

"You feeling okay?" Mike asks.

"I have not felt this good for ages." I reply. I take a bite into the suspicious sloppy joe from the school cafeteria.

"You're eating?" Jessica says, bewildered.

"Of course! I've been starving since second period. Normally I would never trust the school's sketchy sloppy joes, but this is an emergency."

That actually gets a laugh from Mike. I smile more.

"So I was wondering what ya'll are doing later. Anyone want to go see a movie or something?" Iask. I'm greeted with stunned silence.

"Why are you asking me?" Jessica asks. I realize with horror just how badly Bella treated these people she called her "friends". She just ignored them for months? Even when they put in loads of effort to make her feel welcomed at a new school, and later make her feel better about being dumped by Edward? Geeez. No wonder they're upset. Bella's been a total bitch to them. I've got to fix this.

"I'm asking you because I've been a total bitch, and you don't deserve to be treated the way I treated you. Ignoring you, being passive aggressive, putting some random guy above our friendship. Clearly I haven't been thinking straight. So I just want to apologize and see if you'd be willing to give me a second chance?" I ask. Her eyes start to water and I freak out that she's about to cry, but then a smile spreads across her face.

"Oh, Bella! Of course. I'd love to hang out." She says. I smile back. A wave of happiness floods through me. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm really good with anything." I say. She ponders for a moment before suggesting some romcom she heard about. We make plans for later. The bell rings and we part ways.

Later, I'm actually really excited for the movie. Jessica is beyond friendly and bubbly. We talk 4eva. Time flies by until the movie starts, but even then we make comments to each other about the silly romantic lines and mediocre acting.

When the movie is over, we decide to debate which lines were the worst. We wander, looking for the car, and continue to talk and gush about the ridiculousness of the movie. I don't realize where Jessica is leading me. I'm only vaguely aware that it was dark and quieter now. Then I notice Jessica has quieted down too and she looks tense. I look around to find we're on a short stretch of unlit sidewalk. The little shops lining the street are all locked up for the night, windows black. Half a block ahead, the streetlights start up again, and I can see, farther down, the bright golden arches of a McDonald's.

"I think we're lost." I say. This makes Jessica even more anxious. Across the street there's an open business, some place called One-Eyed Pete's. There a group of four men standing outside the bar. One of Bella's memories of almost getting mugged tugs at my mind. I ignore it. I explain to Jess that I'm going to go ask those men for directions. She looks panicked.

"Bella, are you crazy?" She whispers. I tell her it'll be ok, those men look nice enough, I'm sure the tattoos are just temporary do-it-yourself, have 911 on speed-dial just in case, and head over. I walk across the street and hear another voice say, "Bella, stop this right now!"

I freeze. That isn't Jessica's voice, and it isn't Nemo's voice. So far, he's been the voices in my head (or rather invisibly following me? I never actually figured that out), well, except for that one time in Maximum Ride, but that was different! I think this is it. I've finally cracked. I knew Twilight would be the end of me.

"Go back to Jessica," The lovely voice orders, still angry. "You promised-nothing stupid."

And that's when I realize who the voice is. I recognize that stern ordering voice and the familiar sense of being treated like an inferior. I'm thankful that I'm not crazy yet but I sneer because I have to deal with Edward again. I roll my eyes and continue on my way.

"Keep your promise." The voice says.

"Maybe stop projecting your voice into my mind? You promised you would leave me alone." I point out. I see Jessica and the bikers look confused because they're not sure who I'm talking to.

"Bella, turn around." The voice growls, and I continue to do the exact opposite of what it wants. I hate to admit it, but it pleases me to hear Edward so fed up. Maybe it's immature, but payback is just too sweet.

"Hi." One of the men calls to me. He seems nice. Edward snarls. He is so judgmental! I'm sure these people are very kind. I smile at the man who greeted me.

"Can I help you with something? You look lost." He grins and winks.

"Funny you should say that, because we are." I explain. The voice is silent, but I can feel the annoyance radiating from it. Much to my satisfaction, the group of men point me in the right direction. I thank them profusely, and head back to Jessica.

"I knew those guys would be totally chill." I reassure her. Still the voice says nothing. I smile. Jessica is still a little shaken, however after I get us back to the car her usual bubbliness returns. She's laughing and jovial once by the time she drops me off at my house. We make plans to hang out in the near future.

"Where have you been?" Charlie demands when I walk in the door.

"Whohohoooa. Chill, I was just hanging with Jessica." I explain. Charlie seems suspicious, as if he just couldn't believe that I'm capable of having fun or interacting with real living people. He lets me go upstairs and I fall asleep.

For the first time in a while, I have a nightmare. It starts as one of Bella's. I'm looking at myself as an old wrinkly grandma carrying knitting and a pie in a mirror. The knitting isn't even well-done. I turn away and see I'm in a field of some sort that looks vaguely familiar.

"Come back." The mirror says. The voice compels me to turn around. The grandmother version of me in the mirror has shed its skin to reveal Nemo underneath. His hair is black and slicked back to match his suave leather jacket, looking just like he did when I first met him in The Outsiders. His iconic mischievous I-know-more-than-you smile that he wears is gone, replaced by a frown and a worry line above his forehead.

"You left me." He cries.

"Nemo, what's wrong?" I ask.

"How could you just leave me?" He accuses me. That's when I see a hand grab his shoulder. Fear and panic fills Nemo's eyes. He's completely forgotten me.

"Wait, please no!" He begs, to no one in particular. Then he's forcefully pulled out of the frame into whatever lies beyond the borders of the mirror.

"Nemo!" I yell, horrified. I slam my fists against the mirror. It does nothing. When my hands are painted with bruises and pain shoots through my wrists, I take a step back. Only my reflection stares back at me, looking pitifully scared and weak. I yell in anger and throw the mirror to the ground. It falls and shatters, the glass fragments flying across the waving grass.

And I wake up. Charlie is there. He's clearly worried, and asks over and over if it's about Edward. I tell him it's not, that I'll be okay. His concern is touching, even if it's for his daughter, not me. And it does make me feel better to know I'm not alone. I tightly hug this man who's almost a complete stranger. He hugs back and I feel safe, if only for a moment. Finally he leaves and I'm left cold and alone again.

Just in case you missed that, I'm very worried about Nemo right now.