Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

I decided to post this chapter !

Chapter 12

BPOV

One night, I was sitting on my bed checking my email when I decided to log into my messenger. I was pleasantly surprised when I got an instant message from Angela. We chatted for a while. I learned that she and Ben broke up when she got accepted into the University of Argosy's teaching program in Florida and he got accepted to NYU. She was surprised to find out about my break up with Edward. She was sure we would be married by now. She was happy that I was okay with our break up this time. We emailed and spoke to each other regularly. Out of everyone from my high school, Angela was the only one I cared to keep contact with.

Finals were over and we were a month into the summer but we still couldn't figure out what to do. The gang decided they wanted to spend a vacation in Florida. I thought it would be nice to visit Renee while we were in town but when I called Renee to tell her the news I was disappointed to learn that she wouldn't be there. She and Phil would be on the road with his baseball team. She suggested we stay at the house instead of a hotel. I thought it was a great idea and everyone else was on board with the idea. When I called Angela to invite her down, she asked if she could bring her roommate Karen along and I agreed. We would arrive at the house Wednesday and Angela and Karen would be there the following day.

A few days later we packed our suitcases, piled everything in to the SUV and swung by the dorm to pick up Zach. During the long flight, I sat between Taylor and Zach while Liz and Ryan sat opposite us. Liz was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. As she rambled on with an enthusiasm to match Alice's, I leaned my head back, closed my eyes and thought about Jacob. I wondered what he was doing and if he was happy. More than anything I wanted him to be happy. When Leah and I last spoke she said he was doing a whole lot better but she wouldn't go into detail. She explained that there were certain things she wasn't allowed to tell me because it was pack business. I didn't understand why she was being so secretive all of a sudden. No one from the pack knew we were even speaking. It was strange.

We landed in Jacksonville and loaded our stuff into our minivan rental. As we drove to the house I stared out the window remembering my last visit. I was heartbroken just having hurt the two men that loved me. I had no real idea of who I was because I was so wrapped up being Edward's Bella and Jacob's Bells. I still wasn't sure who I wanted to be but I was making progress and I knew it was partially thanks to the people in the car with me. The guys were talking about girls in bikinis and playing beach football. Liz was busy rattling off our itinerary while I nodded in the all the right places. I vaguely remembered hearing something about jet skis, spas and bar hopping but we would wait until Karen and Angela were with us to finalize our plans.

By the time we arrived at the two-story house, the sun had already begun to set. We unloaded our stuff from the car and let ourselves into the house with the spare key I fished out of Renee's flower pot. I took them upstairs to organize our sleeping arrangements. As there were only three bedrooms, we decided that Liz and Ryan would take one room, Zach and Taylor would take another while I would share Phil and Renee's room with Karen and Angela as it was the largest. Liz and Ryan made a beeline for what they called the better room. Zach shoved Taylor out of the way and ran down the hallway saying he called dibs on the bed. Taylor rolled his eyes at me then followed behind him while I dragged my suitcases into my room to unpack. I called Charlie and Renee to let them know we got in all right.

By the time I finished unpacking and made my way downstairs, the gang was already in the kitchen. I smiled at the sight of everyone making themselves at home. Liz was passing out sandwiches, Zach was rummaging through the refrigerator and Taylor and Ryan were eating at the table. I sat down at the table and took the offered sandwich from Liz.

Liz sat down next to me. "So what time tomorrow will Angela and Karen get here?"

"I think sometime around ten or so. Can't wait, huh?" I smiled around my sandwich. I was excited to see Angela too.

"You know it. There are so many things I want us to do together. I want us to have some real girl time." Liz was starting to bounce again and Ryan shook his head.

"Man, I feel sorry for you, Izzy. You don't want to know what she has planned for you guys." Taylor laughed softly and I frowned. I knew that laugh. That laugh usually meant something really unpleasant was coming my way.

I turned to Ryan with a pleading look. "Come on. You have to tell me what she's planning. At least give me a hint. Please?" Ryan was truly like my big brother. I turned on my puppy eyes and he looked ready to cave. He opened his mouth to tell me but took one glance at a murderous looking Liz and closed his mouth.

Liz gave him a satisfied nod then got up and went to the sink.

Ryan glanced at her back and quickly said, "I'll only give you a hint. It's got something to do with hair."

Liz spun around and snapped, "Ryan!"

He was instantly intimidated and looked down at his plate. "Yes, ma'am." Laughter broke out at Ryan's expense. His fear of Liz was always a source of amusement because she was half his size. My laughter died down as she turned her glare on me. Hell, I was afraid of her too. What kind of torture could she be planning that had to do with hair? Maybe Ryan meant going to a hair salon. But even though it wasn't at the top of my favorite list of things, it didn't sound awful.

Zach passed me a note on a small piece of paper. "It's from your Mom."

I took it from him and read it out loud. "Hi baby. I hope you and your friends enjoy your vacation. Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge. I went grocery shopping, so the cupboards are stocked. The cookies I baked are in the jar on the counter. Have a good time. Mom."

From the moment Ryan heard the word cookies, he was up in a flash. "Cookies. Dude score!" Before I could warn Ryan, he was already sitting at the table scarfing them down.

Ryan's face went from heaven to disgust. "Oh God... It's awful." He spit it out the cookies into a napkin. He made a face and stuck out his tongue. I tried to hold back my giggles. Renee's cookies really hadn't improved at all over the years.

Taylor frowned. "I'm sure you're just exaggerating. Here I'll try one." He reached out, took a cookie and popped it in his mouth. After a few chews he grimaced. "Izzy, I'm sorry but he's right." At least Taylor was diplomatic enough to swallow what he had in his mouth.

Liz laughed loudly, "Serves you right, Mr. Big Mouth."

"God, how do you mess up cookies?" Zach wanted to know.

I couldn't hold in my giggles anymore. "I'm sorry, Ryan, but I tried to warn you. I was the one in charge of all the cooking when I was growing up." I got up, took the jar from him and emptied the contents into the trash. I planned to tell Renee the cookies went bad.

After dinner we spent the evening laughing up a storm while watching Family Guy. I really loved the baby. He was a riot. Soon enough my yawns got the better of me and I said goodnight to gang and dragged myself up the stairs to my room. As I was about to close my door I saw Ryan in the hall.

I frowned and my hand paused on the door. "Hey Ryan. I didn't see you there. Did you want something?"

He smiled shyly and I raised an eyebrow. Since when was Ryan ever shy? "No. I just wanted to ask you to be a little patient with Liz. You see, this girl time thing is really important to her because she never got to do that stuff when she was growing up. All she had was Taylor and me. She really looks at you as a sister and I know she can go a little crazy sometimes but she means well."

I smiled. "Okay. I'll try not to run screaming from whatever she has planned for me."

He laughed. "That's all I ask. Goodnight." He went back downstairs and I closed the door.

As I changed into my pajamas I thought about what Ryan said and smiled. It was so cute how protective he was of Liz. He was worried I wouldn't react well to her plans and hurt her feelings. I didn't know she felt that way about me. A best friend maybe but not sister. Thinking back on things I realized Liz was always insisting we do stuff together like jogging, shopping and one time she even talked me into letting her do my hair. I never had a sister but if I did I would want her to be just like Liz. She was brave, funny, smart, tough as nails yet sensitive enough to know when not to push. I would try not to give Liz a hard time with whatever she had planned for us. I stretched and turned off the bedside lamp then drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the following morning around nine. My sleep had been restless as I kept having strange dreams where I was in a forest with a huge hour glass. What did that mean? I untangled myself from the covers and walked into Phil and Renee's bathroom where I brushed my teeth and took a shower. I dressed in a t-shirt and some shorts. I couldn't wait to go outside and sit on the beach. Staring out the window I could see that the weather was beautiful and sunny. I could even see the beach in the distance. I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Even though it was empty I could already hear the gang starting to stir upstairs.

I decided to get a start on breakfast. I turn on the coffee maker and put some bread slices in the toaster. Then I went to the refrigerator and took out the milk and eggs. I opened the cupboard and stood on my toes trying to reach a box of cereal in the back.

I muttered, "Crap." My stretching had turned into hopping when I heard a deep chuckle from behind me. I spun around to see an amused Taylor leaning against the kitchen wall.

His eyes twinkled mischievously. "Need any help?"

I placed my hands on my hips and huffed. "If you wouldn't mind. Or are you too busy enjoying the show?"

He languidly eyed my exposed legs and raised an eyebrow. "Indeed."

I blushed. "That's enough out of you. Now get to work on the pancakes."

He pushed himself off the wall and took down the cereal. "Aren't we bossy this morning?" He went to work on the pancake batter.

"Oh, shut up." I set the table and poured orange juice in the glasses.

After Taylor finished the pancakes and I placed them on plates, I hollered up the stairs, "Breakfast!"

Seconds later Ryan and Zach ran into the kitchen jostling each other with Liz rolling her eyes behind them.

As we sat down at the table Ryan gushed, "Aw…thanks for breakfast, mom and dad." Zach choked while drinking his orange juice and Liz giggled.

Taylor laughed. "Mom and dad, huh? So what would that make you guys?"

"I think Ryan and Zach would be your kids and I would be Izzy's attractive sister." Liz flipped her hair and dramatically fluttered her eyelashes.

"Kid? Forget that. I'm dirty Uncle Zach. You know the one who can't be left alone with the teenage girls. Yep, that's me." Zach grinned lecherously.

Liz and I wrinkled our noses at him then busted up laughing. The playful banter continued throughout our breakfast and Liz helped me with the dishes while the guys were watching TV.

We were drying the last dish when I heard loud car honking. I rushed outside to see a taxi coming up the street and Angela hanging out the window. I heard the gang behind me as I walked down the steps.

The taxi stopped and Angela came barreling out of it. She screamed, "Bella!"

I was knocked into the grass as she collided with me. I laughed, "Jeez, Angela. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry about that. I'm just so happy to see you." She beamed and helped me up. "Wow, you look great." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

I blushed slightly and hugged her back. "Thanks, so do you." I pulled away and looked at Angela closely. She looked different without her glasses. She told me she decided to wear contacts instead soon after coming to Florida. Her black hair hung in waves around her head and she wore blue jeans and a green blouse. She looked happy. It was so good to see somebody from my past.

She introduced me the girl standing next to her. "This is Karen. Karen, meet my friend from high school, Bella." Karen was from Manhattan. She was a slender, attractive girl with sleek, black bob cut hair that framed intelligent looking grey eyes.

Karen extended her hand and I shook it. "Hi Karen."

"So you're the Bella, huh?" Karen asked and I threw a confused glance at Angela wondering what she'd told her about me. But before I could ask I remembered the gang observing our greeting and decided to introduce them.

I turned and pointed them out. "Angela and Karen, these are my friends Liz, Taylor, Ryan and Zach." Everyone said their hellos and we helped them move their suitcases into the bedroom.

Angela and Karen changed in to their shorts and t-shirts. We decided to take a walk outside and check out the beach. I dug around the house and found some beach chairs and two beach umbrellas. We grabbed our towels, sun block lotion and set out for the beach. There were a few people on the beach. Some were swimming, some were running around playing and others were just relaxing. The girls and I decided to do the latter while the boys went over to join a group of guys playing football on the beach.

We spread our towels, stuck our umbrellas in the sand and settled into the chairs. I looked out at the crashing waves and sighed in contentment. This was exactly what I needed. The other girls were talking and getting to know each other but I wasn't really paying attention to them. However, I did overhear their plans to visit a spa the following day. Our attention was then drawn to the guys playing football and what a show that was. Angela and Karen were practically drooling. All of the boys had taken off their shirts and were throwing a football around. We were mesmerized by the sea of rippling muscles, glistening with sweat.

"Oh wow. Would you look at that? What an impressive display of man candy." Angela let out a hum of appreciation.

I gasped. "Angela." I looked at her in amazement. This was not the shy bookworm from high school.

She turned to me completely unashamed. "What? Just look at them. They're freaking hot." She gestured with her hand and giggled.

Liz only managed an, "Uh-huh." Her eyes were glazed over as she stared at Ryan's chest. I think they would have self destructed if they ever saw the pack shirtless together.

Karen decided to get down to business. She turned to look at Liz and me. "Okay. So, which of the three are yours? I'd like know before I make my move." I saw Zach grinning at us. He was aware of our ogling and loved it.

I turned to Angela and raised an eyebrow. "Is she for real?"

Angela cackled, "Oh, you have no idea."

Liz snorted, "Please, you could take them all off our hands." Her gaze turned contemplative then she replied. "On second thought, the big one, Ryan, is mine. So beware because I ain't afraid to cut a heifer." She smiled but the threat was still evident in her eyes.

Karen's eyes widened and she raised her hands in surrender. "Okay. Warning received." She turned to me. "What about you?"

Before I could open my mouth to answer, Liz cut me off. "Oh, Izzy doesn't date. She's still in mourning over her ex-boyfriend, Jacob Black."

I shot Liz an annoyed glare and Angela's head snapped in my direction. "What? Jacob Black? The native kid? Is he the reason you left Edward?"

I cringed when I met Liz's inquisitive gaze. "Edward? Who's Edward?" I still hadn't told the gang about my relationship with Edward and the Cullens and I wasn't ready to discuss the whole thing at that moment.

I clammed up and Liz knew my reaction meant she wouldn't get anything out of me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Angela mouth a 'sorry' at me.

Thankfully Karen diverted our attention back to the boys. "So I guess the other two are free game." She turned back to look at the guys with a hunter's gleam in her eyes. Liz and I giggled. It would be fun to see her try to bag and tag one of them. Zach would be an easy conquest. He was such a slut. Taylor, on the other hand might present more of a challenge. I looked at the powerful lines of his body, the definition of his stomach and arms and thought to myself. Taylor's looks and introverted personality might have made him the ultimate hunter's prize in Karen's eyes.

A/N:Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now I want to reassure you guys that I have plans to move my story back to the J/B section in the move is just a temporary one.

Let me know what you think of Angela's roommate, Karen. She's a forward one.

Don't worry I won't leave you hanging with Jacob's POV. I'm working on his chapter as I write this.

Coming up next Bella has a hair raising experience.

If you want your chapter early you know what to do. Review!