A/N:Okay, first off: I am insanely sorry for not updating for months. It's not like I forgot about all of you... it started with a simple writer's block and then kind of grew to an obsession for my original stories instead of fanfiction.

This particular chapter has been on my computer for quite some time now and after re-discovering my love of fanfiction, I finally decided to upload it.

I can't promise any regular updates with all the other things I am writing and this thing called Real Life meddling in every nw and then, but I will honestly try to finish this story.

As a matter of fact, I already started typing the next chapter, so hopefully it will be done soon.

Now without any further ado... go on ahead and read ( I have to say though, that this chapter is fairly short)

Finding Rose was easier than I thought.

After peeking into her room and then dashing through the corridors of the school, I eventually found her outside.

She was sitting on a bench by herself, her head tilted upwards. It looked peaceful enough, if it weren't for the fact that the streaks of tears were glistening in the weak sunlight.

"Mind if I sit with you?" I asked her as I approached.

Rose's eyes opened, darted in my direction and closed again.

She gestured for me to take a seat, which is what I did.

For a few moments, neither of us spoke. Honestly, I just didn't know what to say to her.

"You think I'm stupid, don't you?" she suddenly asked.

I had been surveying the surrounding are, so her question caught me off guard.

"Wha- No! What makes you think that?" I protested right away.

Rose turned her head to give me a pointed look.

I sighed.

"Well, I do think you're kind of an idiot, because I honestly don't see why you try so hard to lose weight," I admitted.

She let out a bitter laugh.

"In that case we can be idiots together."

"I'm not trying to lose weight."

"No, you're trying to be someone you're not."

I opened my mouth to respond, but there was nothing that I could say to that.

I couldn't tell her that she was wrong, not because I thought she was right- I just couldn't argue with it.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're completely fake," Rose added, "You just try too hard to push against everything, regardless of whether or not you're really bothered by it. It's like you want to be miserable and you want to fail."

I scoffed. "Who volunteers to be a failure? I'm not that crazy."

Rose raised her eyebrows at me. "Oh really, so you really are the worst ballet dancer in this school?"

"Should you even be calling me out on that? You're the one, who thinks that she's too fat."

"And you only seem to have an attitude problem once you're in a dancing studio."

"You are are trying too hard to be perfect."

"Well, you try too hard to not be perfect."

"I'm not perfect," I groaned.

"No, you just have a perfectly trained body, good feet and a genius dancer as mother, who taught you everything she knew."

"You're body is just as trained as mine is, seeing that you have been dancing for years. You're feet can't be that bad, otherwise you wouldn't have made it into ballet and my mother is dead, so there's not much use to her anymore," I snapped.

I somewhat expected Rose to just drop the issue then and be quiet again, maybe even apologize for bringing my mother up.

Not a chance.

She was a perceptive bitch.

"Don't think that I will pity you now," she ranted. "I think you have gotten more than enough pity. As you said, you're mother is dead and not you - so why are you giving up on everything?"

"Who said that I was giving up?"

"I just assumed that, seeing that you don't seem to have any goals for the future or any kind of motivation to carry you through the day. You just kind of exist and do whatever you can to pass time, but you don't really strike me as a passionate person."

I crossed my arms and squinted into the sun.

"Just because I don't feel the need to starve myself or dedicate my entire life to ballet, doesn't mean I can't be passionate about something."

"If you were doing something useful with your time, I don't you think your father wouldn't have needed to send you here. As far as I can tell, you're not much of a threat - let alone a criminal, so my guess is that you were just tagging along with those friends of yours. End of the story is that your father felt the need to throw you back into something you once did, in order to get you to do something with yourself."

"What would you know about that anyway?" I muttered, not looking at Rose.

"Been there, done that."

That statement caught my attention and I whipped my head around to stare at Rose in disbelief.

She just had a rueful smile on her face, looking at something far away.

I wasn't too sure if I should ask her about it or just ignore what she said. She didn't look like she wanted to tell me, but I was curious.

Rose solved my inner conflict by speaking up again, "I stopped dancing as well, when I was twelve - about to turn thirteen. Jasper and I had this ballet teacher, Royce, who taught us in the ballet studio right beneath his apartment.

"My parents paid him a lot of money to teach us both privately, so we wouldn't have to 'put up' with the other kids. He was a really good teacher, but I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable around him. Sometimes, he looked at me weirdly and other times his hands were lingering a bit too long when he helped me. I tried not to put much value to it, because he was my teacher and he was very nice to us.

"Then Jasper just had to get the flu. He was sick for almost two weeks, so I had to dance on my own.

At first everything was just like always, but each day Royce would let his hands wander a little bit more. I didn't think much of it, I was too focused on dancing."

Tears were starting to flow down her cheeks, as she told me her story. Knowing where this story was leading to, I really wished for her to stop, but she looked like she needed to get this out.

Wiping her face she continued,"One day, I twisted my ankle so he had to take me upstairs to his apartment to put some ice on it.

I remember feeling a bit flustered that he was being so caring and gentle, so when he kissed me, I didn't feel shocked or surprised - I was actually a little excited."

Disgust was clear to be heard in her voice and she balled up her hands in tight fists. I quickly rummaged through my bag and fished out a pack of tissues.

Rose smiled a watery smile when I handed her the tissues.

"I'm not going to tell you details, but you know what happened."

I nodded silently.

"Anyway, despite being excited at first, I also knew that it was wrong and it wasn't like I wasn't uncomfortable. Royce was just convincing me that it was okay and everyone was doing it. I was twelve and lived a completely sheltered life, so he could have told me anything and I would have believed it.

"It was only when I was back at home that the full weight of what had happened crashed down on me and I just broke down. I played sick for a couple of days as well, but when the doctor gave me an all-clear I had to go back to school and dancing lessons.

I tried very hard to pull myself together and I was really grateful that Jasper was there as well, but after one week, I couldn't do it anymore. Royce was suddenly acting all cold towards me and barely looked at me, just confirming that what I had done was wrong.

I asked my parents to take me out of the dancing lessons and they did. After that, I completely lost myself.

The first year was the worst, because I had to force myself every day to get up. Eventually, I came around and I thought that I was getting better. I had new friends and even had fun every once in a while. But the thing is that I didn't feel like I was really living. I didn't have strong attachments to anything and just didn't know what to do with myself. I just let myself be pulled along by my friends and whatever they liked, I liked as well. Whenever they found something funny, I'd laugh too. I didn't even do it on purpose, it was just an automatic response. I really felt like I was okay.

Unfortunately, I had picked the worst possible bunch of friends I could have picked.

When we were fifteen, everything was just about boys. Boys, boys, boys. You wouldn't believe half of the stuff that happens in private schools. Rich kids, get bored and look for something exciting to occupy themselves with. At that time, the opposite gender was the most exciting thing there was.

Of course, I just went along with it.

And since I was always a bit better... developed as my friends, I had guys lining up just to catch a glimpse of me. I started to enjoy that and felt really good about myself.

I started dating some of them and after being dumped a couple of times, I started to get depressed again, so I just gave in to their wants. The result was the same, but the boys were talking about me all the time and I felt like I was at the top of the world.

Thinking back, I'd love to bitch slap my fifteen year old self. Being titled as the school's slut, was definitely not one of my greater achievements."

Rose sighed and shook her head. She had stopped crying by now and kept ripping off small pieces of her tissue.

I cleared my throat, ridding myself of the lump that had been forming when she had told me her story.

She looked at me and her eyes widened.

"Jesus, I made you cry?" she exclaimed

With a frown, I reached up to touch my face and sure enough, I had cried without noticing.

"Sorry," I said, my voice kind of hoarse, "I just... it's so sad that you had to go through that... you don't really seem like you had to deal with something so severe. I guess, I kind of admire you for being able to fight all on your own, while I..."

"Oh, it wasn't like that at all. My parents caught me with a boy in my room, so they made me go to school with Jasper,"Rose clarified.

"Did you tell them?"

Rose shook her head fiercely. "I don't think that I ever will. You're actually the first person that I told."

Her admission made me feel a little strange. I wasn't used to people putting their trust in me, at least not that much.

"Even though, I carry the burden on my own I still get help from my friends. Honestly, I have no idea where and what I would be if Alice hadn't picked me up as her personal charity case," Rose added in a soft voice.

She was much calmer now, but still looked like she was a little on edge.

"Her personal charity case?"

Rose chuckled quietly.

"Yeah, when I started here she just walked up to me and took me under wing. She motivated me, kept me company and got on my nerves. Like she is doing with you now. She always claims that when she first saw me that she knew that I would become one of her closest friends. She's not judgemental or calculating and it's nice to have someone around who genuinely values your presence. Then again she can be a bit of a pain as well."

I could only nod in agreement to that. She really was a pain in the ass. Not to the point that I would kick her to the curb, but she definitely left me wondering if she didn't have any issues of her own to sort out.

"Surprisingly, even Emmett and Edward have been helpful to get me back on track."

My brows furrowed at that. "How the hell is Edward helpful to anyone?"

"Oh, he's not as awful as he seems." She shrugged.

"You of all people should not say that and expect me to believe it," I huffed.

"We didn't always dislike each other that much. Actually, I don't even dislike him. He's just getting on my nerves. Before we had to dance together we got along in some way or another. At least, I can always say for certain that he never once thought of me as anything different than another human being, disturbing his surroundings."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Kind of. He's weird and I don't get him at all, but he's not as shallow as most of the people here are. His only problem is that he spends way too much time in his head. I guess when you're the offspring of an artist and a scientist, you just have to get stuck in your own little world - he's just too smart for his own good."

"Are you telling me that he's some kind of genius?"

Rose shrugged and made a face. "What do I know? I never spent much time trying to figure him out. It gives me headaches."

Well, I knew that feeling.

It occurred to me then that Edward might just be completely misunderstood by everyone, but as fast as that thought crossed my mind, I tossed it away again.

No way that I was feeling any kind of sympathy for him. If he wanted to be the tortured artist I would not interfere.

"Now, I told you my sob-story and the emotional baggage that I'm carrying around, don't you think it would be fair to return the favor?"

I looked up at Rose, who didn't look back at me. She was frowning at the sky.

"I don't think you'd want to hear it," I mumbled. "And it's not like my story is all that bad. After hearing yours, I'd say that I might just be-"

"Stop!" Rose cut me off.

I looked at her in confusion.

"Don't try to downplay things and get to the story."

I sighed before I took a deep breath.

"Well, I used to live in Florida with my mom. It was just the two of us. My parents had never really been together, so I didn't know my father. I was always perfectly content with that, my mom took really good care of me and she was always there when I needed her.

We just lived in our own little world, filled with Ballet and nothing else really. It's crazy now that I think about it.

When I was fifteen, I got an offer from a few academies and even some companies. I was elated, because that is obviously what every Ballet dancer wants. My mom wasn't so keen on that though.

She always preached that I was too young to be part of the harsh world of Ballet. I didn't agree with her and we constantly fought because of that. It really put a strain on our relationship.

So one day, we argued again and I just sneaked out. I went to the dancing studio down the street just to get rid of my frustration. I don't even remember how long I had been there."

I let out a bitter laugh at the memory.

"Then all of a sudden I heard a shot and a scream. The voice just sounded so familiar, that my heart really stopped for a moment. I went out to see what was going on. When I rounded the corner, I found my mother lying there."

My eyes started to fill with tears as I remembered the dead body of my mother. Even in death she had still looked beautiful. It was quite disturbing.

Rosalie patted my back, softly.

"So your Mom was shot? I still can't believe that no one knew about that," Rose muttered.

I shrugged.

"The police didn't announce her death, it would have meddled with their investigations or something. My mother wasn't even supposed to be the victim. Apparently, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that thanks to me."

"Oh Bella."

Before I knew it, Rose had thrown her arms around me and squeezed me tightly.

I awkwardly hugged her back and we stayed like that for a few moments.

When she let go of me, she let out a small laugh.

"I guess this covers the pity part of today," she remarked.

"I'd say."

"And we're currently ditching classes," she added with a look on her watch.

"That is true," I agreed once more.

"So now that we know each other's sad sad pasts, what do we do? I guess we should sit here some more and comfort each other, but I'm honestly not in the mood for that."

I made a thoughtful face. There was nothing distracting that I could really think of at the moment.

Mainly, because my entire emotional center was still occupied with processing Rose's story and having to tell my own.

Rose seemed to sense that and sighed.

"You know that it's not your fault that she is dead, right?" she asked me. Her tone held no evidence whatsoever that she had just been crying a few minutes ago.

I was a little impressed with her ability to just put these things behind her and not let them bother her.

"Of course it is my fault. She wouldn't have been anywhere near this alley if it wasn't for me being self-absorbed and stubborn. I just left the house, not once thinking about my mother who would be worried about me. It was such a selfish thing for me to do and I got punished for it, but so did my mother."

Rose let out a long and deep sigh.

"You can't control the actions of others. Your mother died, because someone pulled the trigger on his gun and not because you ran off," she insisted.

I just made a face at that.

"There you guys are."

Rose and I both turned at the sound of Leah's voice.

She happily skipped toward us, Seth and Jacob close behind her.

"Don't just disappear like that, you had us worried."

She first looked at Rose sternly and then at me.

"Where are the others?" Rose asked, ignoring the look she was given.

"They didn't want to ditch class, so I brought my own searching team."

"Shit," Rose exclaimed. "I'm missing class." Just a few moments ago, she seemed to be cool with that little fact.

She jumped up and looked like she was about to race into the building if it weren't for Leah stopping her.

"Too late to rush in there now. You might as well ditch for the rest of the day."

"Why would I even consider to do that? What am I supposed to do with all that time?"

Rose looked at Leah expectantly.

I clapped my hands together at this, happy to get to do something fun.

"We should go and eat something," Leah proposed.

Instantly, my high spirits sank. So much for doing something fun.

"Are you serious?" we all chorused.

Jacob, Seth and Rose looked about as impressed with this idea as I was.

"Yep," Leah responded, all too happily. "We need to get Super-Barbie back to a healthy diet and I'm ...oh who am I kidding, I just ate."

"And I'm not hungry," Rose grumbled, crossing her arms defiantly.

"But you have to eat something," I protested.

How she was capable of going without food for so long was seriously beyond me.

"I will," she promised, looking at me in conviction. "At dinner."

Leah and I exchanged a look, neither of us sure if we should take her word for it.

Seeing how we could not really force food down her throat and could still call her out on her promise at dinner, we both shrugged and let the topic go.

Although, it didn't go unnoticed by me that Rose had yet to tell me why she was putting herself through this 'diet' in the first place.

"So what do we do then?" I asked, looking at no one in particular.

"Well," Jacob started in his husky voice. "It's sunny. Let's go for a ride."

I really, really missed Phoenix now. Maybe not as much as on other days, but the familiarity of this situation just reminded me so much of home that I almost felt like crying.

Jacob's idea of going for a ride had been readily accepted once he, Seth and I explained what exactly that entailed.

Whenever my friends and I had absolutely nothing to do with ourselves, we had squeezed into someone's car and just drove of. Without a goal or a specific time in mind.

Usually we had all taken Felix' truck, since it could easily fit us all – as long as half of us sat on the truck bed.

Each trip we had taken was memorable for some reason or another and I really missed the feeling of freedom that came with standing on the truck bed with spread arms on the highway.

This was not so bad either. Rose had handed over the keys to her convertible to Jacob – quite begrudingly, I might add – and gave him a quick set of instructions that came with driving her car.

Jacob had looked like he was only half-way listening, much too taken by the beauty of her car.

Now we were all driving through Washington with the stereo cranked up and feet dangling out of the car.

I had no idea where we were, but by the looks of it, we were miles away from any kind of town.

The last small town we had driven through had been our only stop since we took of hours ago.

Leah had bought three bottle of champagne, which were all empty by now.

Jacob was the only sober person in this car – no one was that reckless – although he probably reeked of alcohol as well, because he had been showered in champagne by Leah.

Rose had seemed like she enjoyed herself and momentarily forgot her troubles, letting her hair fly loosely in the wind.

She was getting along just fine with Seth, but had a bit of an attitude towards Jacob. I guessed that she was just not too thrilled with having someone else driving her baby.

Seth had spent most of the drive amusing us with perfectly memorized programs of his favorite comedians.

"You know, it must have been ages since I have last watched the sun set," Rose sighed over the tunes of her classical playlist.

The boys and I had been completely ignored when Rose and Leah decided to put it on.

Now that we were driving back to the Academy, worn out and happy, I was appreciating the music much more than anything else.

It was the perfect background to be watching the red glowing horizon.

"I think, I never really watched the sun set," I mumbled in response."It's sort of romantic."

"Aww, are you turning soft on us now?" Leah joked.

I didn't reply to that.

With everything that had happened today, this was a welcome ending to my day.

Watching the sunset with my friends stirred a comforting sense of release in me – something like leaving all troubles behind.

The drive back was more of a quiet nature, only few words were exchanged.

It was as if everyone was lost in their on thoughts.

I listened to Rose and Leah's murmured conversation about Ballet.

They were talking about past performances that they had seen, lulling me into sleep.

But even sleeping, I could still hear them and their words took form in my dreams – creating beautiful dances in my mind...

A/N: If you ask me, it's kind of obvious to see where exactly I had stopped typing months ago and just picked it up again a few weeks ago.

I hope that you don't dislike the chapter too much.

Some revelations have been made, people grew closer and Edward is sadly not in this chapter.

But I will get to that.

Now, I would be grateful for a few reviews even if you're just telling me how much I suck for not updating. Anything is fine, it'll motivate me to type