A/N - Sorry this one is in the short side; please rest assured that the next one will be much longer, seeing as it features the Nerd Dance! Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend Million Dollar Baby by clpsuperstar - I've been absolutely addicted to this fic, and it's as smutty as they come! Thanks for reading xoxo Babypeach

Chapter Six: Favor

My walk back to campus was slightly less humiliating.

Emmett's white blood cells got to clotting, and I had a clear head again. However, I couldn't really do what I wanted to most: watch Edward. Every time I tried to steal a glance at him in the back of the mass of students trekking down Main Street, I seemed to catch his eye. He would grin at me and I would whip my head around, blushing furiously.

Other than that small embarrassment, everything seemed to be going fine until Alice got impatient with my unwillingness to 'take charge of my love life', and went ahead and gave it a little push.

"Oh, Bella," she said all innocent-like "it seems that young Mr. Edward," she jerked her head behind us "is missing his spoon."

Emmett heard her and picked his head up, grinning as he looked between us. "You know what that means...BLAMMO HIS ASS!"

Nonononono...too soon!

Snatches of our conversation finally drifted back to Edward, who stopped, checking his pockets frantically for the plastic utensil that could save him.

"Damn," he muttered, coming up empty. This puzzled me; I had seen it in his back pocket only too clearly in the movie theatre.

Alice's smirk alerted me.

"What did you do?" I hissed, so only she could hear.

Her who, me? dewey-eyed farm girl routine didn't fool me for an instant; I knew she had everything to do with this.

I didn't have time to probe further as Edward sidled up to me, looking semi-defeated.

"I guess I'm your target, huh?" he said good-naturedly, dragging a hand through that sexily mussed hair of his. "Quite the interesting turn of events. Before you Blammo me, though, hear me out?"

I stopped walking and waited. Alice and Emmett tried to stay to, to eavesdrop, but Rosalie grabbed them both firmly by the arm and marched them away.

Edward knelt in front of me, on the sidewalk of Main Street, cars and nerds passing all around. I blushed crimson at the attention we were drawing.

"Oh Great Blammo Goddess, please spare me this day, for I am far too young to be Blammoed," he joked, raising his hands to me in supplication.

"Get up," I whispered. He grinned crookedly and stood.

"I'm not going to Blammo you," I told him. His plea was amusing, it was true, but I had made up my mind long before that, thanks to my utter fascination with him, and the excuse that little spoon provided.

"Thanks," he said sincerely. "I owe you one - really. And, I promise I'll let you Blammo me just as soon as I get my target. It's this girl I like, and I was hoping to get her out, and then ask her out."

"Good plan," I said casually, trying not to betray how downtrodden I felt at this turn of events. Of course. Of course he would like someone else. But I was just masochistic enough to want to know who. "Who is your target?"

He laughed. "Not supposed to tell - but I'll give you a hint...she's blonde."

Lauren. I knew it. But...why would he have to go to such an effort to ask her out? They were already sitting together at the movies.

"Well, that isn't really fair. You already know my target, which gives you the advantage. Besides, once I get you out I'm gonna need to know who to go after next," I reminded him drily.

"Okay, okay, I see your point," he conceded. After a pause, he confessed, "It's that girl Tanya."

"Oh."

I was surprised, but definitely not pleased. Tanya, being unfamiliar to me, was far less easy to hate than Lauren. Back when I had been convinced of Edward's affections for Lauren, a whole hour ago, I had been able to despise her for being unpleasant and at least had the advantage of being able to observe their interactions in class.

Tanya was far, far prettier than Lauren, being tied with Rosalie for hottest girl. She was also mysterious, so I couldn't dismiss her personality, and I was absolutely no competition. Figures. I hoped Alice wouldn't take it too hard. Knowing her, this tidbit of information would probably spur her to launch a counter-attack.

"Good luck," I said sincerely. "She's very pretty." Why, stupid Bella, why must you point out the positive points of your competition?

"Yeah," he grinned. "I hope she'll go to the dance with me. I want to get to know her better."

I wish I could get to know you better. I sighed.

"Seriously, though," he continued, "let me know what I can do to make things even - I do owe you one."

"I will," I smiled wistfully, knowing full well that I had a billion and one ideas that I could never, ever, share with him.

"Great," he grinned. "I'll see you later." He sped up to catch Emmett and smack him in the back of the head for exploiting his moment of weakness.

I stood where I was before inspiration struck me.

"Hey, Edward!" I caught up to him without tripping, miraculously.

"What's up?"

"I thought of a favor to ask of you..."

He waited patiently as I tried to formulate the words in my mind.

"Will you be my guy friend?"

He looked nonplussed, so I rambled on. "I've never really had any good guy friends, and, well, I'd like to get to know you, because you seem like a really chill person, and -"

"Yeah," he said, interrupting my diarrhea of the mouth.

"Yeah?" I echoed, hopeful.

"Yeah, I'd love to be your guy friend," he grinned.

"Um, awesome," I said stupidly, my heart running a million miles an hour with the triumph of this simple non-rejection.

He laughed. "Bella, you sure are easy to please - you're the best."

I knew he didn't mean it in the way that I wanted him to, but as his new girl friend, I was going to do what I could to change that.