Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or these characters, no copyright infringement is intended.

By the time I pulled up in the parking lot at the diner it was nearly 8.30. I thought that I had managed to avoid my father's words of wisdom following today's events, and his attendance at school, but no. He walked through the door as I was leaving and despite my protestation that I had plans I couldn't be late for. I was forced to listen to his lecture about how he was busy at the hospital and really couldn't spare time to be coming down to the school and deal with his son who was old enough to know better. I could tell that he wasn't really mad at me for what I did, nor the fact that he was pulled away from work and he felt that he had been lectured by the principal. Between him and Jake I really felt like I had been lectured to within an inch of my life, all I wanted was to kick back and have some fun.

I took a deep breath as I pushed the door open, stepping inside. I could see where Jessica was sitting, holding court in one of the booths with afforded her a perfect view of the whole diner if she chose to pay attention, which she clearly didn't as it took a sharp nudge from Lauren for her to look in my direction. When she did a huge smile lit up her face and she pushed Mike Newton out of the booth and patted the seat next to her.

"Come, sit here with me Edward. I'm glad to see you" She frowned and pouted at me as I slid into the vacant seat. "I thought that you were maybe going to stand me up."

I turned to her allowing a smile to play on my lips. "Why would I stand you up Jessica?"

She giggled and wiggled closer to me, moving my arm so that it was resting around her shoulder as Jessica's eyes remained locked on my face, the rest of her group just stared slack jawed at her open display of what appeared like affection to me. I must admit I was was every bit as shocked as they were, somehow I managed to keep it from my face.

The waitress came over with a bored look on her face and she waited for me to tell her what I wanted. This gave me a perfect opportunity to remove my arm from around Jessica's shoulder as I reached out for the menu. There was a deep sigh from our waitress as I looked at my options, even though I knew what I was going to have.

"Chocolate Malt please." She simply nodded and walked away. The group began to chatter amongst themselves and I found myself remembering the last time I was here following the winter formal, when Tanya asked me to meet her, which was later revealed to be set up. The humiliation that I endured was still burned clearly into my memory, mainly due to the fact it was at the hands of the people that I was now sitting around the table with. Bile rose in my throat at the thought, and I had to stop myself from bolting out of the door. My internal debate was halted when a glass was placed on the table in front of me. I mumbled my thanks and was greeted with a sarcastic smile in response.

"So Edward, I take that your folks didn't ground you for what happened at school? Or are you having a full on rebellion and came out anyway?" Jessica asked, her eyes were alight with curiosity. "I mean, I doubted that your dad would say anything at school, but he looked pretty pissed when I saw him."

Lauren giggled. "And pretty damn hot too."

I choked on a mouthful of my drink and Jessica glared at her before she hissed. "Shut it Lauren." She turned to me. "Ignore her."

Lauren was having none of it, however. "What? You're telling me that you have never said before how hot Doctor Cullen is? I call bullshit on that."

Jessica's look totally summed up the 'if looks could kill' mantra. I however, found this funny. "It's okay, I'm used to people thinking my dad is the 'hot doctor', so is my mom. She finds it all amusing."

"Well, he looks good for his age." Jessica admitted. "You obviously get your looks from him." I chuckled at her, shaking my head.

"A few weeks ago you wouldn't have said that." I muttered.

I felt her hand on my face as she turned it to face her. "Well, you're probably right there. I won't lie to you on that. But look at you now, a haircut and some new clothes and boom! You are hot property Edward Cullen. Just a shame that bitch saw it before the rest of us got the chance."

I felt myself stiffen at the mention of Bella, if not by name. "I thought that she was crazy dumping James, now he is a hot piece of ass, but seeing as she had you to fall back on I can totally see why. Was she desperate? Did she pursue you? I bet that she wanted you to remain off the radar of he rest of the women around here." I swear that she didn't stop for breath.

Lauren added. "Yeah, but don't forget about Tanya, she was before Bella. I bet didn't take rejection too well."

Mike sat forward. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you were banging her before Bella. Or were you doing them both at the same time?"

I really didn't want to talk about this, having my private life laid bare for them to pick over the juicy morsels of gossip that they could glean from this. I stood up quickly and walked toward to restrooms, needing to get away from the conversation.

Once inside I turned the faucets on and splashed cold water on my face before I grabbed some of the paper towels to dry myself. Looking in the mirror, I saw the door to the restroom open and Jessica stepped inside. Turning toward her I frowned at her.

"I'm sorry Edward, they just don't know when to shut up sometimes. Are you okay?" She asked.

I let out a sigh. "Yeah, It's just hearing it like that is hard. Yeah, I know that it happened, and everyone wants to know the details but…"

Jessica smiled at me. "C'mon, let's get you back out there, they have been told to back off."

I nodded before joining her. As we approached the booth, I noticed the conversation suddenly stopped. There was no way that I could sit back down with them, knowing that they were still talking about me behind my back. Jessica slid back into her seat, oblivious to the tension that was hanging heavy in the air. Taking some cash from my pocket I threw it onto the table. "That should cover my share of the bill." Was all I said before I turned on my heel and headed for the door. I made it outside, almost to my car before I heard my name being called.

"Edward, wait!"

I stopped, not turning around as I knew who it was. I felt a hand on my arm and only then did I turn around.

"What do you want Jessica? To drag me back inside so they can humiliate me some more? Was that what this was about? Get Freakward down here, let him think he's part of the group before you turn on me?"

The look on her face was one of shock, she clearly wasn't used to being spoken to like that by anyone. "No! That's not what it was about at all." Her brows furrowed together. "I asked you here because I felt that you deserved to be part of what we have." She took a step closer to me. "

"I don't know, you tell me. Depends on what your motives really are. Forgive me if I have my doubts."

Jessica looked me straight in the eye. " Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I like you, and want to get to know you better, is that so wrong?"

Looking at her, I couldn't work out if what she was saying was the truth or some elaborate lie. There was only one way to find out, and despite my better judgement, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"I suppose not, but you have to know that I have been burned before, so forgive me if I am a little cautious."

A huge smile lit up her face. "Great! So, where are you gonna take me for our first official date?"

"One step at at time." I wasn't sure how we got to suddenly go on a date, but I wasn't going to refuse.

"There is a movie I want to see showing in Port Angeles, how about Friday? You can pick me up and we can go in your car. Okay?"

Wow, she really was a force to be reckoned with. "Okay, let's do it then."

She jumped up and down on the spot, clapping her hands together. Then, before I knew what was happening, my face was in her hands and she placed a quick kiss on my lips. I was stunned, that was not what I was expecting.

I was left standing staring after her as she had run back inside the diner, I guessed to tell everyone her news.

Turning to get into my car, the sight of Bella's truck peeling out of the parking lot. I wondered how much of what had happened, she had seen. Not that it mattered, she was my past and I was ready to move on toward a future that would hopefully be brighter.

Authors Note:

Thanks for reading, sorry for the delay in updating. Huge thanks go out to ETPhonehome who is my trusty pre-reader on this.