The drive to school the next day was silent for Rosalie and I and full of Jessica's chatter. When we got to school, Rosalie couldn't get away from us fast enough. Jessica latched onto my arm and dragged me to where Mike, Tyler, and Lauren were congregating by the door. I awkwardly excused myself, mumbling about needing to go to the library. Before I could get away, Mike said that he needed to go to the library too.

I was silent as we walked through the halls together, but Mike didn't seem to notice. He was just as good at inane conversation as Jessica. When we reached the library, he headed toward the magazine section and I darted in the opposite direction, hiding out in the shelves until the first bell rang. The morning dragged by, but I was able to visit with Angela a little. Fortunately, I had been right in my initial assessment of her, and I really enjoyed our discussion of our summer reading lists. I secretly wondered why she hung out with Jessica.

At lunch, I made my way through the line quickly. I kept my head down so I no one could catch my eye and bolted for the library, where I stayed until Biology. Edward Cullen was the last person in class, arriving just as the bell rang. As he took his seat, he looked right at me and grinned crookedly. I could feel my face heat up and I hid behind my hair. Again, I peeked at him periodically as Mr. Banner lectured, but today, every time I looked at him, he was looking back. When the bell rang, he remained in his seat, blocking my exit. "Hi. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Bella, right?"

He held out his hand to me.

I nodded and took his hand, surprised at the jolt that shot through me. "Nice to meet you," he purred. "Can I walk you to Gym?"

I peered at him questioningly, shocked that he not only knew my name but my next class as well. He laughed, "I need to tell Alice something."

"Okay," I whispered and got up to follow him, praying that I didn't trip over my own feet. I managed to walk without any accidents. He didn't say anything else to me, but he seemed comfortable with the silence. I was too caught up in my thoughts to speak.

Alice was waiting by the door to the gym. Edward nodded at her and said, "Later, Bella," then he strolled away. I frowned in confusion. "I thought he had something to tell you." Alice laughed.

"I didn't see you at lunch today. Where did you sit?" she asked as we made our way into the locker room.

I ducked my head and she narrowed her eyes at me. "Bella, where were you?"

"Library," I mumbled.

"You didn't want to sit with Jessica and her friends?" I shook my head. Alice bounced excitedly. "You'll sit with us tomorrow." It wasn't a question.

"That's okay. The librar-"

Alice cut me off. "You'll sit with us tomorrow." Her voice was more firm this time. I nodded our agreement.

Alice and I tried to hang back as much as possible in Gym. She giggled at my snarky comments about my physical ineptitude. She thought it was too soon to attempt another escape to the nurse. I decided that a twisted ankle was in my near future.

We sat together in English and walked out of school arm in arm. She insisted that I ride home with her so I could meet her boyfriend, claiming that she had already cleared it with Rosalie and Rosalie would let our parents know I was having dinner at her house. Alice was somewhat pushy, but I couldn't seem to mind it. Her boyfriend Jasper was another one of the beautiful people, but very laid back and down-to-earth, much more placid than I expected of someone dating Alice. He seemed to have a calming influence on her, which was great in my book.

Jasper dropped us off at Alice's house, claiming he had to meet up with the guys. I wondered if Edward was one of those guys. Alice and I worked on our small amount of homework, then worked together to make dinner. Alice's mom was a single mom and worked long hours as a nurse, so Alice was usually the one who did the cooking. Her mom arrived just as we were done cooking. Mary was a grown-up version of Alice, bubbly and warm. It had been a long time since I had laughed so much. After I helped clean up, Mary drove me home.

My mom and John were sitting in the living room. John had a sour look on his face, but Mom threw him a disapproving glare as she asked me if I'd had fun. I nodded and told her I'd finished my homework at Alice's, which Mom said was great. John started to say something, but Mom threw him another look.

In our room, Jessica was shooting me disapproving looks, but I ignored her and logged into Facebook on my laptop. Alice had sent me a friend request, which I accepted. I was also mentioned in her status update. I smiled, then logged onto my fanfiction profile. Three updates! I read through my favorite stories, then added a little to the story I was currently working on. My latest chapter was almost ready to be sent to my beta.

The next day drew way more attention to me then I'd ever wanted as Alice met me in the parking lot before school. I received more disapproving looks from Jessica and her friends, both then and at lunch time as I followed Alice to her table. So many people were staring at me. I got the impression that new people weren't invited to sit at this table very often. Rosalie didn't say anything to me but her boyfriend turned out to be warm and hilarious. Jasper was also very welcoming. I tried to concentrate on Emmett and Alice's humorous banter, but the entire lunch period I was working hard trying not to stare at Edward. When I excused myself to dump my tray, he followed me and walked next to me all the way to the Biology room, not saying anything. He grinned at me as we took our seats. For that day's experiment, he surprised me with how quickly he came up with the answers. He looked doubtful when I fired my answers back just as quickly, and I raised an eyebrow daring him to challenge me. After checking a few of my answers and finding them accurate, he gave a mock bow and grinned at me. I grinned back just as the bell rang.

"Come on, Bella. Time for Gym. Try not to hurt anyone today." He smirked at me.

I huffed and tried to be offended, but he wasn't wrong. I'd been able to hold my own against him so well in Biology, but now my palms were sweating and my tongue was tied. We walked in silence again until he passed me off to Alice. "Keep an eye on her today," he joked. Alice gave him a mock salute.

Gym was abysmal as usual. After school, Alice left me at Rosalie's car with a stormy looking Jessica. She simmered silently on the way home, then exploded at me when we reached our bedroom. She spent half an hour lecturing me on how I was going to get myself in trouble if I continued the way I was going. I nodded, not agreeing but trying to pacify her. I got the same lecture from John at dinner. Mom didn't look happy with him, but she also didn't say anything. After dinner, I texted Alice about what had happened that night. She was sympathetic and agreed that I probably shouldn't sit with her at lunch anymore. I insisted that I still wanted to be friends. She was glad about that, but decided that we would be more discrete in the future.

The next day, I followed Jessica to meet up with her friends before school. Rosalie looked at me as she passed with Emmett in a way that almost seemed pitying. I ate lunch in the library for the rest of the week, still hanging out with Alice in the classes we had together, but spending the rest of my time with someone that was Jessica-approved. Fortunately, I saw Angela a lot. It was becoming very difficult to be pleasant to Jessica and her friends, but I didn't want to make waves at home so I did my best to grin and bear it.

I spent most of the weekend working on homework, writing and reading. I went to Jessica's Saturday afternoon Bible study and church on Sunday, hanging toward the back and sticking close to Angela. The next week continued in the same pattern, but I spent two evenings at Alice's house, telling my mom I was working on homework with a friend. I didn't mention a name and she didn't ask. She fielded any questions John might have had.

On Thursday Alice invited me to a bonfire at First Beach. I was unsure about whether I would be allowed to go, but when Alice mentioned that Edward had asked her to invite me, I decided I would find a way to be there no matter what. Edward had been friendly during Biology but didn't go out of his way to talk to me, so I wasn't sure where we stood. I was excited to get to see him outside of school. The plan was that I would ride with Rosalie to Emmett's where everyone was meeting up.

That night, I made sure to get my mom alone when I asked her if I could go to the party. She asked a few questions, but she seemed excited for me. Before she could say yes, John walked into the room and asked what we were talking about. Mom filled him in, and he immediately said no. Normally I wouldn't put up a fuss, but this time I wasn't taking it lying down. "You can't tell me no if Rosalie gets to go!" I shouted.

John seemed taken aback by my outburst. He called Rosalie downstairs and asked about the party. She rolled her eyes and answered his questions begrudgingly. She seemed to be daring him with her eyes to argue with her. I had no doubt that she would win. Then Mom piped in with, "John, we need to be fair to the girls. I'm sure Rosalie will keep an eye on Bella and make sure she stays out of trouble."

Rosalie agreed more enthusiastically than I expected. John couldn't argue with all four of us. I was going to the party!