A/N: I just got back from seeing The Rover, and I'm not sure how I felt about it. I will say that Rob's acting was amazing. If you've seen it, let me know what you thought.

Huge thanks for reading, reviewing, and favoriting!

BPOV

I had a date with Edward, I had a date with Edward, I had a date with Ed—

"Bella? You okay, hon?" Mom asked, interrupting the thoughts that kept circling around in my head.

"Sorry, I'm fine. Got lost in thought for a moment," I told her.

"Hmm. Would that have anything to do with a certain young man who's been hanging around here?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Yes! It has to do with Edward. We're going out on Friday night."

Mom let out a squeal that I thought only Alice could pull off. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a tight hug.

"Oh, my baby girl's going on a date!"

"Mom, it's not like I've never been on a date before," I said, prying her off of me.

"I know, but this is the first time you've gone on a date since we moved here. And that Edward is such a nice young man. Cute, too."

"Mom!"

"What? I'm just saying," she giggled causing me to roll my eyes before leaving the room to do some homework.

Work that night at the diner was pretty slow and uneventful until Jessica and Lauren showed up. It was the first time I'd had to deal with them while working there. Most of the time, my patrons were families with young kids or old men. Rarely did I ever have to deal with kids from school.

I barely held back a groan as I watched them take a seat in my section. Mustering up a smile, I headed toward them, mentally preparing myself for their bitchiness and insults. Although, perhaps Jessica would be on her best behavior seeing as how her mom was working the counter.

I knew the minute they saw me approaching their table. They immediately began whispering to each other and snickering.

I handed them their menus and asked them what they wanted to drink. After serving them their drinks, they placed their orders. Of course, they chose to place the most complicated orders I'd yet to receive.

"I'll have the turkey club on whole grain wheat with a side of light mayo, a sprinkling of lettuce, two tomatoes, and a dash of mustard," Lauren said with a fake smile.

I rolled my eyes as I wrote down her order, knowing that she'd get whatever our cook, Embry, gave her. I turned to Jessica to get her order, knowing she'd be just as difficult.

"I'll take the chef salad with no fat Italian dressing, no tomatoes, no onions. I want the eggs chopped, and the cucumbers thinly sliced."

I barely contained a snort at their holier-than-thou tones. They did realize that we were at the Forks Diner, not a five-star restaurant, right?

I headed behind the counter and placed the order slip, giving Embry warning that the diners were extremely picky.

"Are you kidding me? Thinly sliced cucumbers? A sprinkling of lettuce? What the hell is a sprinkling of lettuce?" I heard him muttering.

After checking on my patrons and taking some more orders, Jessica and Lauren's food was ready. I grabbed their plates and dropped them off at their table, telling them to enjoy their meal. I hadn't moved more than a few feet when Lauren called me back, claiming that her order was wrong. Of course it was. Apparently, there was too much lettuce and too much mustard. She demanded that I take it back and get it right. Thankfully, Jessica wasn't bitching about her order yet.

Grabbing Lauren's plate, I headed back to the kitchen and informed Embry that Lauren was bitching about her order. Scowling, he yanked the lettuce off leaving two tiny pieces and wiped the mustard off with a paper towel.

"Here," he said, thrusting the plate back at me.

I took the plate back to Lauren and set it down in front of her. Seconds later, she shoved the plate back at me.

"I can't eat this! The order is wrong again. What kind of a waitress are you?"

One that was about to shove that plate down Lauren's freaking throat.

"I demand to speak to your manager. I'm filing a complaint. You're completely incompetent."

Whatever. I headed to the back office and knocked on Mrs. Stanley's door. Maybe she could reign in the demon queen.

"Mrs. Stanley? I have a customer who'd like to complain to you about me."

I told her that Lauren seemed to have a problem with me. Mrs. Stanley rolled her eyes, commenting as she got up, that Lauren seemed to have a problem with everyone.

I followed Mrs. Stanley out to the dining room and over to Jessica and Lauren's table. I noticed that Jessica's face seemed to pale a bit when she saw her mom, but Lauren's face exuded smugness.

"What seems to be the problem, Lauren?" Mrs. Stanley asked.

Lauren was in her element when it came to complaining about me and her food. On and on and on it went until finally Mrs. Stanley held up a hand effectively shutting her up.

"Jess, did you have any complaints regarding Bella's service?"

"Um … no?"

Mrs. Stanley nodded before turning to Lauren. "My suggestion to you is that if you have such a problem with our service and our food, then you don't need to come back."

Mentally, I was cheering and doing a little dance at seeing Lauren get shot down.

"Jessica, once you're done with dinner, you can go wait in my office until closing. Work on some homework and then you can explain to me why you have detention tomorrow."

Oh, crap. I'd totally forgotten about having detention tomorrow.

Once my shift was done, I headed home and walked in on Mom and Dad making out on the couch.

"Oh, gross! Don't you people know that you have impressionable children living under your roof!" I said with my hand covering my eyes.

I heard some movement and slowly peeked through my fingers.

"Calm down, Bells. Your mother and I were just expressing our love," he said, his mustache twitching.

"I'd prefer you'd express your love in the privacy of your bedroom."

Mom patted the couch and told me to tell her about work, so I did. I told them all about Lauren and her hi-jinks. Mom huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Girl thinks because her father's the mayor that she's above the rest of us. Her mother's the same way. Oh, don't even get me started on that woman!" Mom scowled.

"I suppose I should let you know that I have detention tomorrow after school."

They weren't too thrilled to hear about it, but they were used to dealing with Emmett and his detentions, so they didn't complain too much.

I pulled into the parking lot at school and smiled when I saw Edward waiting for me. He opened my door and helped me out of the truck, wishing me a good morning. We exchanged smiles, and I watched as he blushed. He was so cute.

We walked into school side by side, our hands briefly touching every so often. I wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but I didn't want to assume anything. Sure, he'd asked me out, but it wasn't like he was my boyfriend. Not yet, anyway.

I was so caught up in my musings that I almost jumped when a large warm hand wrapped itself around mine. I looked up and saw Edward looking down at me.

"This okay?" he asked quietly, a blush on his cheeks.

I nodded, giddy on the inside.

Edward walked me to my locker and leaned against Jessica's while I gathered my stuff. Unfortunately, Jessica chose that moment to come down the hallway.

"Move! I need to get into my locker," she snarled at him.

"There's no need to be rude," he told her as he moved away from her locker.

"Oh, fuck off."

"Ms. Stanley! That kind of language is uncalled for. Don't let me hear you using it again or you'll end up in detention," Mr. Banner told her as he passed by us.

She turned to glare at us as if it was her fault she'd gotten called out.

Rolling my eyes at her childish behavior, I grabbed Edward's hand after closing my locker, and we headed down the hall.

By lunch, the rumor mill was on a roll. I knew the second that we'd been spotted holding hands that people would start talking, and I'd been right. I ignored most of the crap being spewed, but that all changed when I was in line with Jasper. We were making fun of the nutritional value of our school lunches when I heard Lauren running off at the mouth.

"I cannot believe Edward! How dare he go out with me and then Bella! What kind of asshole does that?"

I whirled around to say something, but Jasper beat me to it. He handed me his tray and turned to face her, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Are you delusional or just a liar?" Jasper asked, continuing before Lauren could answer. "I'm going to say it's a bit of both because I know for a fact that Edward never went out with you. I'm sure we all recall when he told both you and Jessica that he wasn't interested in either of you. By lying, you're just making yourself look pathetic."

He turned away from her in disgust, took his tray from me and started walking toward the cashier.

"Oh, and Lauren?" he asked, turning around to face her once more. "Don't even think about spreading lies about my friends or my family. It won't end well for you if you do," he warned.

I couldn't help the grin that crossed my face. Jasper was the quiet brother; a thinker. It was rare for him to lose his temper but when he did, look out.

We were the first to arrive at our table which was unusual. Alice's gym class always let out a bit early so she was almost always the first person there.

"Where's Ali?" I asked Jasper.

Frowning, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to her. Seconds later, his phone beeped and he scanned the text.

"She got held up after class. She should be here in a minute."

Minutes later, Emmett and Rose sat down, and I watched as Alice and Edward walked in. I could tell that something was wrong. She wasn't her usual bubbly annoying self. She seemed subdued and angry, and it looked like Edward was trying to calm her down.

They approached the table, neither of them having gotten anything to eat, and Alice sat down with a huff, arms crossed over her chest.

"You should've let me hit her," she said to Edward.

He sat down next to me, shaking his head. "Why hurt yourself or get in trouble over someone who isn't worth it?"

"Hmph. She would've been the one who'd gotten hurt, not me."

"What's going on?" Jasper asked, looking between the two of them.

"Jessica," was their reply.

A brief explanation followed. Basically, it boiled down to the fact that Jessica had verbally attacked Edward, and Alice overheard it. Alice, being the wonderful person that she was, defended Edward which led to an argument between Jessica and Alice.

Edward's arm had found its way across the back of my chair as we listened to Alice recapping what had happened. When she was done, Jasper pulled her into his side and talked softly to her, causing the tension to leave her shoulders.

I turned to ask Edward a question when his stomach let out a ferocious rumble. I let out a giggle as I slid my tray over to him.

"I'm done," I told him. "Feel free to eat what's left."

"Are you sure? I don't want to eat your food."

"It's fine. Besides, I don't want to have to listen to your stomach rumbling during Biology."

As the lunch bell rang, Edward picked up my tray and tossed it before taking my hand.

"Well, well? What's this?" Jasper asked as we walked down the hall with him and Alice.

"What's what?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Going on dates, holding hands. I think a romance is a brewing," he sang.

Alice giggled at him as I rolled my eyes. Edward flashed me a grin that made my insides melt.

"You could say that," he said to Jasper.

"Excellent. But, as Bella's brother, I have to warn you—"

"I know, I know. I hurt her, you hurt me."

Jasper snickered. "I take it Rose gave you that speech?"

"Yup."

When the bell rang signaling the end of school, I said goodbye to Edward and my family and trudged off toward Mr. Masen's classroom where detention was held. I opened the door and made my way in, handing Mr. Masen my detention slip.

"Take a seat, Bella."

I saw Jessica and Lauren sitting near the back, heads together. I chose to sit up front, across from Mr. Masen. A few minutes later, James and Alec came waltzing in the door. I saw James' eyes land on me, and he and Alec decided to sit right behind me. That is, until Mr. Masen made them move. He put them on opposite ends of the classroom and did the same with Jessica and Lauren.

"Now that you're all here, welcome to detention," he said with a wry smile. "For some of you, this is nothing new. For those that are new here, the rules are as follows: do your homework, read a book, or sit quietly. There will be no talking, no playing around on your phones. You're here because you broke school rules. Those that choose to disobey my rules will end up with detention for the rest of the week."

Reaching into my bag, I pulled out Anthem by Ayn Rand. I was reading it as part of my independent study for English. Mr. Masen had decided that the first half of the year would be an independent study; each student reading seven books that they selected and keeping a journal regarding those books. Toward the end of the week, Mr. Masen would let those who were reading the same book, have a group discussion. If no one was reading the same book as you, then you'd have a discussion with him.

I was the only one reading Anthem, so Mr. Masen and I would discuss the book on Thursday after he looked over my journal entries. It wasn't a very long book; a little over two hundred and fifty pages. The book was written about the future, in a world where individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. All decisions are made by committees and individualism doesn't exist. The story follows a man known as Equality 7-2521 and how he dares to stand apart from the world where he lives. I was loving it.

Taking out my journal that I was keeping for the book, I opened it up to my last entry and began a new one. Detention flew by surprisingly quick as I got immersed in my assignment.

Once detention was over, I waited until James and Alec left before leaving myself. I didn't want to get caught alone with either of them, particularly James.

Friday finally arrived. I was so freaking excited about my date with Edward, and I wasn't the only one. My mom and sisters were just as excited, which was the reason I was going to be forced to play Bella Barbie.

"Bella! Pay attention," Alice chided as she tossed clothes at me.

I scowled as I watched the pile on her bed growing. Alice and Rose where clothes whores. Me? I was content to where jeans and shirts everyday. I didn't know where Edward was taking me, but I did know that dinner was involved.

"Aha!" Alice cried out as she came scrambling out of her and Rose's closet with something clutched in her grasp.

"Here," she said, thrusting the garment at me.

I held it up and saw it was an off-white colored sweater dress. It was actually cute.

"Wear that with some brown leggings or tights and pair it with those cute brown boots you got last year."

With dress in hand, I was quickly made my way out of their room and into the shower. Hair and body washed, I climbed out of the shower and headed toward my room where I found Mom, Alice, and Rose.

"I'll do your hair then Alice will do your makeup," Rose informed me.

What felt like hours later, I was pronounced gorgeous and ready to get dressed. I stepped into the dress, had Mom zip it up, tossed on some brown tights, and slipped my feet into my boots.

"Oh, Bella! You look so beautiful," Mom said as her eyes teared up.

I rolled mine, not understanding what she was getting so worked up about. It was just a date. Ha! If only.

A little after 6:50, the doorbell rang, and I heard Dad answer the door.

"Good evening, Chief Swan."

"Edward," Dad said in a curt voice.

Oh, shit. Dad was going to interrogate him. I rushed down the hall and into the living room in time to see Dad cross his arms and stare at Edward.

"Dad!" I hissed. "Behave."

I saw his mustache twitch as he looked at me. "Fine. Just remember Edward, that I'm the chief of police. I can make you disappear if you hurt my girl. Got it?"

"Dad!" I shouted at the same time Mom hollered, "Charlie!"

Edward nodded in response to Dad's question before telling him he'd never hurt me. My heart melted just a little.

Edward turned to me and asked if I was ready to go. I nodded and we left, with my mom telling us to have a good time.

"You look beautiful," he told me as we walked to his car.

I felt my cheeks warm a bit. "Thanks. You look pretty good yourself," I told him.

And he did. He was so freaking gorgeous. He was wearing black pants and black shirt with a black pinstripe vest on top of it. He was too good-looking for his own good.

We talked about anything and everything on the way to Port Angeles, and I was glad to know that we had stuff in common and stuff to talk about. I was afraid that there'd be an awkward silence on the drive there.

We pulled up in front of this cute little restaurant that I'd driven by a few times.

"I hear they have good food. Is this okay with you?" he asked me after he parked the car.

I nodded and went to open my door, but he stopped me. I gave him a questioning look and he quickly explained that he wanted to get my door for me.

My first instinct was to tell him I could open the door myself, but I sat back and waited until he came around. We walked hand in hand to the restaurant where he opened the door for me. We were seated within a few minutes and told our server would be right with us.

I was busy looking over the menu when our server appeared at our table.

"Hi," she said in a breathy voice. "My name is Staci, and I'll be your server today. Can I start you off with drinks?"

"I'll have a Coke. What about you, Bella?"

I ordered the same, giving the waitress the stink eye. She came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. Actually, she asked Edward if he was ready to order, completely ignoring me.

"Why don't you ask my date if she's ready while I finish deciding," he told her.

I gave her a grin that said, that's right bitch. He's mine so back off.

I ordered a small steak with a baked potato and Edward did the same.

"It's so nice to be on a date with a girl who eats real food," he commented, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Your other dates didn't eat real food?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Mostly salads."

I made a face. "Well, rest assured. I won't be ordering salads. I hate lettuce."

"Seriously? You hate lettuce? I don't think I've ever met anyone who hated lettuce."

"Aren't there any foods you hate?"

He nodded. "Mushrooms, tomatoes, bananas."

"I can understand the first two, but bananas?"

"They're too mushy," he replied, a disgusting look on his face that made me giggle.

Despite the pathetic attempts of our waitress to flirt with Edward, our dinner date was fantastic. We talked and laughed and had a great time. I hoped that it wasn't over.

As we left the restaurant, Edward took my hand in his and asked if I minded if we took a walk. Of course, I didn't. We walked a ways down the road and then Edward stopped in front of the marine center. My eyes lit up when he ushered me toward the door.

"I was told that you love this place," he murmured in my ear as he held the door the open for me.

I turned to face him, giving him a smile and placing a kiss on his cheek, grinning, when he blushed.

"I do love this place! Thank you for bringing me here."

He gave me a beautiful smile. "Anytime."

We spent hours at the marine center and only left when they threatened to kick us out. The night had grown colder as we walked back to his car and seeing me shiver, Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him. I slipped my own arm around his waist and snuggled in close.

"I've had a great time, Bella."

"Me, too."

"Would you be up for another date next week?" he asked quietly, sounding a bit unsure.

"I'm up for any and all dates with you."

The biggest grin crossed his face. He was too freaking much, and I felt myself falling a little harder for him. I wasn't ready to admit that I was in love with him, but I was pretty sure that I was. I knew some people didn't believe that high school love was real, but my parents met in high school and had been married for eighteen years and together for twenty-one. Not that I had any plans to get married at nineteen or anything.

Back at Edward's car, he opened my door for me, and closed it once I was in. We were both a bit quiet on the ride back, neither of us wanting the night to end.

We pulled into my driveway and Edward put the car in park, before turning to face me.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Would you—be my girlfriend?" he asked.

Holy shit, holy shit! Edward asked me to be his girlfriend! I let out an Alice-like squeal before throwing myself across the console and into Edward's arms.

"Yes!"

"Really?" he asked, disbelief in his voice.

"Of course, you silly boy. Why wouldn't I want to be your girlfriend?"

"I don't know, but boy am I glad you said yes," he said, wrapping his arms around me and holding me to him.

A flickering of my porch light reminded me that my parents were home and waiting for me to come inside. I would bet anything my dad was peering out the window making sure that Edward was keeping his hands and lips to himself.

I untangled myself from Edward and waited as he got out of the car and opened my door. He walked me up the walk to the front porch.

"Goodnight, beautiful Bella," he said softly, stroking a finger down my cheek. "I had a wonderful time."

I gazed up at him as I told him that it had been the best date I'd been on ever.

He leaned down, his lips barely a hairbreadth away, and I closed my eyes. I was so ready for his kiss. A kiss I didn't get because the front door swung up and Emmett's voice boomed through the night.

"Hey, kids!"

Edward let out a groan and dropped his head onto my shoulder.

"I should've kissed you in the car," he muttered, and I agreed.

Knowing that Emmett wasn't going away anytime soon, and that Dad had most likely put him up to it, I reluctantly said goodnight to Edward.

I watched as he strolled back to his car and waved as he headed down the drive. I then turned to Emmett and hit him as hard as I could.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You know exactly what it was for," I snarled as I stomped inside.

"Sorry, Bells. Dad made me do it."

Of course he did. I headed past the living room where Dad was sitting trying to look innocent and went to my room. I should've known that I would be bombarded by my sisters and mom the second I walked in.

"Well?" they all asked.

"It was fantastic. He's such a gentleman," I told them before giving them the highlights of the night.

"Did he kiss you?" Rose asked.

I shook my head. "He was about to, but Emmett decided to open the door and ruin the moment. Apparently, Dad put him up to it."

Mom's face darkened, and she bellowed out Dad's name before leaving my room. I couldn't control the snicker that escaped me. It served Dad right if he got in trouble with Mom.

Later that night as I tried to sleep, my mind kept playing over the almost kiss with Edward. I hoped that the I wouldn't have to wait too long for it to happen.

a/n: What's your least favorite food? For me, like Bella, I hate lettuce. Absolutely hate it.